The Dreamwalker
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: AU season 4. After returning from the Dark World, Jaden, haunted by the actions of his past, falls into a deep coma. When all options fail Alexis walks the dangerous dreamtrails in a desperate attempt to wake him, and Haou's past is revealed to her.
1. Prologue

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters. All I own is the story itself.

* * *

**The Dreamwalker**

**1 - Prologue**

**(Jaden's POV)**

I was standing in a dark void. Around me were walls of impenetrable, never ending shadow. Around me hovered mirrors that reflected nothing.

I was afraid. I knew this place, but it was one that I feared. My heart. The darkness of which had caused so many people and duel spirits to die by my orders and by my own hands.

I heard familiar dark chuckling around me, confirming my worst fears. Haou was really a part of me. I let out a cry of frustration. Would I ever be free of my actions? Was there really no way to redeem myself?

A shadowy figure with golden eyes stared at me through the darkness.

'Haou ...' I whispered, afraid.

Haou smirked, amused at my apparent fear. 'You cannot change the past aibou,' he said. 'You can only look to the future.'

'No!' I cried. 'Let me be! Leave me to drown in my guilt and my despair.'

He chuckled, before vanishing into the shadows. The mirrors around me flashed. It was then that the full force of my words hit me. A whimper left my trembling lips as I stared, entranced, into the mirror closest to me. The nothingness inside began to take shape. In the now swirling darkness, I could make out villages burning, with the spirits of the Evil Heroes I used as the Supreme King cackling in their midst. Humans and duel monsters alike ran hysterically through the woods, before they turned into particles of light and disappeared ...

'No!' I screamed, pounding on the mirror in agony, as if shattering it would release me from the dark prison that I was encaged in. I fell to my knees, my eyes never leaving the mirror, as it changed to reflect my duel with Bronn. I watched in horror as my friends, the very people I always fought to defend, were sent to the stars because of my own selfish actions. I could still hear their hateful words as they felt the pain of being betrayed by one of their closest friends.

'No ... please ... I'm sorry ...' the world faded into nothing.

I sat up in my bunk in the Slifer dorm, breathing heavily. Unshed tears clouded my eyes, and I could feel cool sweat dripping from my forehead. The moon outside sent a few rays of light through the black-out curtains on the window to bathe the room in a soft glow. I glanced at the clock on my desk. It was 1:57 AM.

Reluctant to return to the black abyss of my dreams, I got out of the bottom bunk of three, and slipped my shoes on silently, before exiting my dorm room and climbing down the stairs towards the beach.

I didn't have to worry about waking anybody else; I was the only student left in the Slifer Dorm, ever since our return from the Dark world. Alexis Rhodes, Atticus Rhodes, and Syrus Truesdale had returned to the Obelisk dorms, where Chazz Princeton and Blair Flannigan joined them after their promotion. Hassleberry had returned to the Ra Yellow Dorms, and the others in their dorm looked up to him as their leader. Axel, Jim and Jesse had returned to their own academies, and Bastion was still to return from the other world, along with Zane, Adrian and Echo.

The experience in the Dark World seemed to being out the best in everybody. Everybody but me. The others, they have found what is really important to them, they know their path. But my path is hidden from me, shrouded in darkness.

I arrived at the beach, and flopped onto the soft sand. Glancing out into the ocean, I caught a glimpse of Neospacian dolphins chirping and playing about in the gentle waves. They waved their tails at me, and I waved back, half-heartedly. My thoughts still dwelled on my dreams.

It wasn't the first time I had dreamt a dream like that. Ever since my return from darkness, the memories of what I had done haunted my dreams.

Previously, I had always followed me heart; no matter what was thrown in my way, I'd follow my instincts and emerge victorious. Whether it was winning a duel, or saving the world, my heart had never led me astray.

Until now ...

My selfish desire to save one friend had cost me the lives of countless others. Luckily, death in the Dark World was reversible, so that I was able to bring back the many lives I had destroyed. But I knew that the scars I left behind would never fully heal.

I lost myself in my anger, sorrow, hate, anguish and doubt, falling into the darkness and causing my other half, Haou, to awaken.

Tears welled in my eyes as I stared into the ocean.

My heart had failed me. Now, I don't know where to turn.


	2. A Stirring in the Shadows

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

Here is the first chapter for the Dreamwalker. Thank you too those people who read and reviewed my story. I really appreciate it.

By the way, in this story, Jaden returned from the Dark world on a Friday (afternoon/nightish time) a week after everyone else, and the where I started writing is the Monday after.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters. I do own the plot, which was inspired by the Keeping Place by Isobelle Carmody. Also, anything mentioned from events in the anime is from the English version, not the Japanese, and Maiden of Aqua's quote is from episode 141.

* * *

**The Dreamwalker**

**2 – Chapter 1: A Stirring in the Shadows**

Morning came, and the students and teachers of Duel Academy began to wake and prepare themselves for the new day. Students hurried to the cafeteria for breakfast, before their classes began in an hour.

Syrus Truesdale hurried to the cafeteria, eager to start the new day. The cafeteria was a place where all the students could eat and spend time together, regardless of their dorm or year level. He opened the door, and seeing so many students waiting for their food, hurriedly joined the growing cue.

'Hey Syrus.' Syrus turned at the familiar voice, seeing Atticus Rhodes behind him in the cue.

'Hi Atticus,' Syrus replied. 'Where's Alexis?'

'She's minding a table for us. They're filling up so fast today.'

Syrus nodded in reply, and waited in the line. He reached the front of the cur, grabbed his breakfast from Ms Dorothy, and scanned the cafeteria for his blonde Obelisk friend. He spotted Alexis waving from a table towards the door, and carefully made his way over, Atticus following behind him.

'Hi Alexis,' Syrus greeted the blonde beauty while taking a seat opposite her.

'Hey Sy,' she replied as her brother took the vacant chair next to her. 'Where's everyone else?'

'Probably still getting their breakfast,' Atticus replied, spreading raspberry jam onto his bread. Blair arrived and greeted the others, taking a seat on Alexis' other side, soon followed by Chazz, Hassleberry and Marcel, with Chazz sitting next to Atticus, and the others between Syrus and Blair. Aster arrived soon after, taking the only vacant chair left on the table, the one between Chazz and Syrus. They began eating their breakfast.

'Where's Jaden?' Blair asked suddenly. 'I haven't seen him since he got back two days ago.'

'Probably still in his dorm room,' Aster replied with a sigh. 'How long is it going to take before he accepts what happened in the Dark World was not his fault.'

'If only we hadn't said all that to him before we were sacrificed,' Atticus moaned. 'We're supposed to be his friends, and yet we hurt him and made his eyes go dark with grief and pain.'

'You don't know the half of it,' Syrus muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Hassleberry heard.

'What do you mean soldier?' he asked.

Syrus took another bite out of his sandwich before replying. 'After you guys were sacrificed in that duel with Bronn, Jaden snapped and defeated him brutally.' He shivered slightly at the memory. 'He wasn't himself at all. His moves were aggressive, like all he cared about was hurting Bronn, whether he won the duel or lost. Bronn, just before he was sent to the stars, told Jaden that Jesse was also in the stars, and that Jaden would never see you all again. Then I said some stuff to him, thinking then that all he had wanted was to feel better about himself by saving Jesse, and that he would stop at nothing to find him. I blamed him for your deaths.' He directed this at the four who had been sacrificed. 'Then I ran off, and Jim and Axel followed me, leaving Jaden all alone.

Later, I met up with Zane, who advised me to make things right with Jaden by standing up to him. I went to look for him, and heard from some friends about the Supreme King, Haou.'

'The Supreme King?' Alexis asked.

'He was a powerful duelist who ruled the Dark World,' Syrus replied, his voice shaking as he relayed the events that had taken place. 'I found the Supreme King's tower, where Jim was duelling the Supreme King outside. He was in a black armor and red cape, and darkness surrounded him. His eyes were an evilly golden, and his face held no emotion, but I could still recognize the person as Jaden.'

'What!' everybody, except Aster and Syrus, exclaimed. 'He may have been rushing himself, but he isn't evil!'

'He wasn't himself,' Aster interrupted. 'Jim had used his eye of Orichalcum to look into Jaden's heart, and saw the good him wishing he could make things right. Jim fought as hard as he could, but lost in the end when the Supreme King activated Super Polymerization. Zane and I found this out from some of the King's guards that were looking for duelists from the rebel army. We also found out that Haou was planning to attack the last human city.'

'After the duel between Jim and Haou,' Syrus continued, picking up the story, 'Axel ran away, afraid, and came across the South village, which was the last standing human city. I met a Duel Spirit called Maiden of Aqua, who was looking for a hero who could defeat the Supreme King. Seeing Axel lose faith in himself, I told Maiden of Aqua about him. Axel saved Maiden of Aqua from the fiend dogs that were chasing her, and Maiden of Aqua said to him: "Being afraid is not a sign of weakness. It's the path you take when you are afraid that will define you." Axel decided to help, and I followed. Aster and Zane met up with us then with reinforcements.'

The others were all quiet, absorbing all that information. They couldn't believe it. Jaden wouldn't destroy all those families and lives! He wasn't dark!

'Axel, Zane and I dressed up as fiends in order to sneak into Haou's castle,' Aster continued after a short pause. There, Axel challenged him to a duel. Syrus caught up to us just as Haou was about to win again with Super Polymerization. Axel, however played a card that gives equal damage. Their monsters exploded, and Axel placed Jim's eye of Orichalcum on top of the Supreme King's heart as Haou's voice changed back into Jaden's and he lost consciousness.

Since the match was a draw, both Axel and the darkness in Jaden were sent to the stars. We left the castle immediately after that. When Jaden woke up, he was overcome with guilt. He said that he didn't deserve to be out friends. He then collapsed from a high fever. Soon after, we met up with Doctor Crowler and a lady called Echo. Adrian the found us, and wanted to absorb Echo's duel energy in order to harness Exodia's power and become king. I dueled him, hoping to save Echo, but lost and was sent to the stars.'

'Aster's sacrifice had allowed the rest of us to escape from Adrain,' Syrus stated in a sad tone. 'We eventually came across a door, and Jaden could somehow sense that Jesse was on the other side. He was about to go through the door, but Zane stopped him with his shocking device. My brother suspected that Jaden would be too confused and afraid to duel his best, and he knew that they had to be ready for anything. So he challenged Jaden to a duel, summoning Armored Cybern in defense mode and ending his turn with a face down. Jaden, knowing he had no choice but to duel, drew his hand and summoned Clayman in attack mode. It turned out Zane's suspicions turned out to be true. Jaden was stared, so scared, that he couldn't used Polymerization because of the destruction it caused when he was the Supreme King, and he wasn't even playing his other cards right. Zane was about to win, but then his heart stopped for a moment. Jaden picked up his Polymerization card and left while Doctor Crowler looked after my brother. I followed Jaden through the ruined cities, until we came across Bronn's fortress, where the last remaining fiend from Haou's army challenged him to a duel. Bastion and Taniya caught up to us, and although Jaden got off to a rocky start, he was able to turn the duel around and win without using Polymerization. We returned to the door, to find Zane duelling Jesse.'

'Jesse!" Alexis exclaimed. 'Why would Zane be duelling Jesse? And where was Jesse the whole time anyway?'

'It turned out Yubel was possessing Jesse,' Syrus replied. 'Zane knew his time was limited, and he dueled so that he could die without any regrets.' He wiped a tear from his eyes as he said this. 'Jesse used Advanced Crystal Beasts, and Zane put up quite a fight, but lost in the end because of Power Bond's adverse effect, and his heart stopped. Jaden, Doctor Crowler and I entered through the door to look for Yubel, while Bastion and Taniya stayed to help the people in the area.

We managed to find Jesse possessed by Yubel, and discovered that he had defeated Adrian and sent him to the stars. Jaden dueled, and was finally able to use Polymerization. He eventually managed to save Jesse by using Super Polymerization, but Yubel gained the card through the trap card Last Trick. The match ended in a draw, and then Yubel and Jaden went through a portal to duel. I followed them with Ojama Yellow.'

'And that's where I came in,' Chazz interrupted.

'You!' the others, except Syrus exclaimed.

'Chazz managed to contact me,' Syrus said in reply, 'and told me that when Jaden defeated Yubel, you'd all be free. I relayed the message to Jaden, and also reminded him about what Bastion had told him.'

'What did Bastion say?' Aster asked.

'He said that Jaden and the Supreme King were two sides of the same person. Bastion told Jaden that he had to control the Supreme King's power to be able to reach his full potential as a duelist. Jaden gave into Haou's power in order to defeat Yubel, but they both vanished in a pillar of light before the duel ended. The next thing I knew, we had all returned to duel academy, except Jaden, who returned a week later, Bastion and Adrian who chose to remain in one of the twelve dimensions, and Zane.' He lowered his head, his light blue bangs covering his eyes.

'He'll come back Sy,' Atticus said quietly. 'He's a fighter, you know.'

'I know,' he replied softly, raising his head. 'It's just that ... I miss him.'

Suddenly, a bell echoed through the cafeteria. The gang stood quietly and headed to their respective classes, too occupied with their own thoughts to say much, except a muttered goodbye.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

The sun had risen an hour or two ago, but I was reluctant to move from my spot on the sandy beach. By now, the rest of the school would have woken up, and were preparing for the new day. I heard the sound of a bell echoing in the distance, signaling the start of first period. I, however, didn't move, even though it meant I'd be late for class.

I wasn't ready to face them yet. I could not look upon the faces of my friends now, without seeing all the wrongs I did to them in that world.

I couldn't face them, not now. Not after watching them pay the consequences of my actions. After watching them die by my own hands, and by watching those that remained stand by my side to help me right the wrongs I had caused, even though I had caused so much grief and sorrow.

A tear trickled down my cheek, before I wiped it angrily away. I didn't deserve to shed a tear after what I had done. I didn't deserve my friends' forgiveness.

* * *

**(3rd Person POV)**

A cloaked figure in the shadows watched the teen sitting on the beach. Jaden, too preoccupied with his own thoughts, had failed to notice the stranger watching him. His normally red, fiery aura was hidden from view, shrouded in darkness. His chocolate brown eyes had lost their unique spark and childish innocence and were clouded in grief and pain.

The figure smirked, and the swirling mass of darkness began to grow, hiding the 17 year old from view completely, before being absorbed into his body. He gasped suddenly; he had finally noticed the darkness' icy grip on his heart.

_Too late_, the figure thought, watching the boy's internal struggle; the conflicting emotions in his eyes, though his face remained passive. His had moved unsteadily towards his rapidly beating heart, and he shivered, although it was a warm morning.

The figure took a step forward, his feet brushing against the stray leaves at the edge of the forest that provided his cover. Hearing the sound, Jaden turned, finally aware of the company present.

It was too late, however. Just as Jaden turned, the cloaked figure leapt at him, knocking him backwards into the sand. Jaden struggled to sit up, but was unable to due to the wight of the stranger on top of him, and from his own weakness. He caught a glimpse of the stranger's face under the hood, and his eyes widened instinctively.

He opened his mouth to scream, but before he could, thin, claw-like hands crept out of the cloak and grabbed him by his throat, lifting him partially out of the sand and effectively cutting off his air supply. He brought his hands up to loosen the death-like grip, but darkness' icy grasp had drained his strength. He was powerless.

He could do nothing as the darkness consumed him. His eyes grew vacant and his head felt light due to his diminishing oxygen supply. Slowly, his eyes closed, and he fell limp in the figure's death grip. The cloaked figure released his hold on the boy, and tossed him into the sand, where he lay unmoving.

The figure smirked again, before vanishing into the shadows.


	3. Discovery

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters. I do own the plot.

* * *

**3 – Chapter 2: Discovery**

**(Jaden's POV)**

My eyelids slowly fluttered open. All I could see around me was darkness. I tried lifting my head, but dark tendrils were holding me down. I tried to squirm out of the tendrils binding me, but the more I struggled, the tighter the tendrils' grip got.

I screamed, the sound echoing through the black abyss. But so sense of relief came.

I was tired. I could feel the strength in my body being sapped away. Try as I might, I couldn't free myself from the chains of my prison.

I longed for a change, even the mirrors that surrounded me in my dreams would be a welcomed interruption. I was then that I caught sight of a mirror directly in front of me.

Uh Oh! I should have been more careful what I wished for.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

Something didn't quite feel right. Currently in Ms Fontaine's gym class, playing a game of dodge ball, I dodged a ball coming at me, and then spared a glance around the courts. I spied Chazz throwing a ball at my brother Atticus, who happened to be on the opposing team. He dodged, and the ball wound up hitting Mindy, who was also on the opposing team, effectively eliminating her from the game. A little way across the court, I saw Syrus dodging a ball thrown by Jasmine, before grabbing a stray ball and throwing it at me.

I caught the ball on reflex and threw it towards Atticus' head, just as Jasmine aimed one towards his feet. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't seen Jasmine's ball, so he simply ducked to avoid mine, and got hit.

Now, it was just me, Chazz and Jasmine against Syrus. Everyone else in the class had already been eliminated, except Jaden, who hadn't turned up to class. I was worried, but put on my cool mask of indifference and concentrated on the game, just as Syrus aimed a ball at Jasmine's head, which missed and was caught by Chazz. However, in the process, he tripped backwards over a stray ball and was eliminated.

'Good one Truesdale,' someone called from the sidelines, and Chazz trudged reluctantly off the court. Now it was just me and Jasmine, and a lot of stray balls. I grabbed one and aimed it at Syrus, only for him to catch it and send it back to me. I ducked to avoid it, just as Jasmine threw a ball at Syrus. Taking advantage of Syrus' temporary distraction, I grabbed the balls nearest to him, passing a few over to Jasmine and keeping the rest.

Syrus looked up at us after seeing no balls around. Jasmine and I were on either side of him, with an arsenal of balls in our own hands. The remaining balls were behind us, out of Syrus' reach.

It was over. We threw our balls at the same time. Syrus dodged to the best of his ability, but eventually got nailed in his stomach by one, ending the game in our team's victory.

The bell rang then, signalling the start of period two, which happened to be a free period. Ms Fontaine dismissed the class, and I headed towards the girls changing rooms to change out of my gym clothes and back into my school uniform, with Jasmine following behind me. I quickly changed clothes, then headed to Chazz's dorm room a.k.a Slifer common room.

I opened the door and walked in, closing it gently behind me. Scanning the room quickly, I noticed Chazz and Syrus sitting on the coach. I plopped down next to Syrus.

'Where's Atti?' I asked, noticing the absence of my hyperactive brother.

'Getting ice for his foot,' Syrus replied.

'And Jaden?'

'Dunno.' He shrugged. 'He wasn't in his room when I checked just now.'

Just then the door opened and my brother limped in with an ice pack strapped to his foot. He shut the door, but not so gently, and flopped down onto the couch opposite the one we were seated on.

'You ok,' I asked him.

He shrugged nonchalantly in reply. 'It's just a bruise. But maybe we should go and look for Jaden.'

I nodded, as did Syrus. The three of us then stared at Chazz.

'Let's go then,' he said, gesturing towards the door.

Atticus limped over to the door and held it open. We all trailed outside and Atticus closed the door behind us.

'One question,' Syrus said. 'Where do we start looking?'

We all stared at each other. Where indeed?

* * *

**(3rd Person POV)**

Jaden lay face-down on the sandy beach, his form deathly still. His skin was pale, too pale, and his breathing was coming out in harsh, ragged gasps, though it was almost too faint to hear. Over him stood the spirit of Yubel, her face mere inches from his, examining his condition. She put two fingers to his throat to check for a pulse. She could feel the unsteady, pounding of his heart, but it was almost too faint to pick up.

'Kuri Kuri! [What is wrong with Jaden!]' Yubel looked up from her examination into the eyes of Jaden's duel spirit, Winged Kuriboh.

'I'm not exactly sure Little One,' she replied gently. 'It seems as though the darkness is slowly extinguishing his spirit.'

'Kuri [So what do we do?]'

'Go get his friends. Jaden needs medical attention immediately.'

Kuriboh nodded and flew towards the Slifer dorms on the other side of the island. Yubel stared after the retreating figure, before staring down at her soul partner.

'Hang in there Jaden,' she whispered.

* * *

**(Chazz's POV)**

We stood outside my dorm room, trying to decide where to look for Jaden.

'Hey Chazz?' Syrus asked suddenly.

I turned to him. 'Yeah,' I replied.

'Why do you care about Jaden?' He asked. 'You were always mean to him, calling him names like Slacker …'

'I've changed,' I interrupted. 'Jaden taught me to enjoy my duels and respect my opponents. He saved my from my brothers' wrath, and from the society of light. I owe my life to him.'

He nodded, looking a bit surprised. I guess he's not used to me expressing my emotions, which is understandable because I hardly ever do. I smiled suddenly; hanging out with these guys has really changed me fore the better.

'Kurii! [Guys!]' I heard faintly from the direction of the beach. I turned towards the sound, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun, and saw Jaden's Winged Kuriboh frantically flying towards us.

'Hold on guys,' I called as I saw Alexis, Atticus and Syrus walking away. They stopped. 'Winged Kuriboh can take us to Jaden.'

'But we're not in the other dimension,' Alexis said. 'Can you see monster spirits too?'

I nodded. 'Kuriboh, where's Jaden?'

'Kuri Kuriii … [He's unconscious on the beach after someone attacked him and …]'

'Cant you speak English,' I exclaimed, cutting Kuriboh's rant short. I guess Jaden's the only human who can understand him. Ojama Yellow appeared on my shoulder and started talking to Kuriboh. After a lot of frantic 'Kuri's' Ojama Yellow got a look of horror on his face.

'Someone attacked Jaden, and he's unconscious on the beach, and Kuriboh says he needs medical attention!' he informed me hurriedly.

I repeated what Ojama Yellow said to the others, who couldn't hear monster spirits, and the four of us took off running towards the beack.

_Please be ok Jaden, _I thought as I ran.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

I stared, entranced, into the mirror, even though I knew I wouldn't like what I saw. I just couldn't look away. The mirror had caught my gaze, and now I was trapped, forced to witness what it had to show.

In the mirror's reflection, I could see a village burning. The strong spirit of Staunch Defender stood, trying in vain to hold back the Supreme King's army. He stood tall, a true warrior, till at last he sank to his knees exhausted, his energy all but spent. The fiends surged past, attacking the villagers, and I watched as humans and duel monsters alike turned into particles of light and disappeared.

Tears ran down my face from the thought of all those that had been killed on my orders and by my own hands. I heard a sound behind me, and suddenly the spell was broken. I turned, seeing Haou behind me.

My eyes widened. Oh no!

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

We all ran to the beach, pushing our legs to the limit. We didn't stop or even slow down as we ran through the forest, collecting scratches and bruises along the way.

Finally, we burst out of the forest and onto the sandy beach. Quickly, I scanned the shoreline before catching site of the red blazer that was Jaden's trademark. I ran to him, with the others at my heels, and my breath caught in my throat as I got a better look at him.

I sank to my knees beside his still body, and gathered him into my slightly shaking arms. He was as white as a sheet, and his breaths came out in short, ragged gasps. I grabbed his hand, and shivered at its icy temperature. Putting two fingers to his neck, I managed to pick up a faint, unsteady pulse.

'What's his condition?' Chazz questioned.

'He's as cold as ice, and his heart rate is unsteady,' I replied. He simply nodded and picked Jaden up bridal style.

'He's as light as a feather,' he exclaimed, before taking off in the direction of the infirmary, followed by Syrus and Atticus, who was still limping.

I looked back at where we had found Jaden, looking for something out of the ordinary. The sand he had been lying on had been slightly scattered towards the water, and the hollow was deeper towards the woods, indicating a small struggle.

I dug around a bit in the sand, but found no clue as to who attacked him. Sighing in defeat, I trudged to the infirmary.

When I arrived there, Jaden had been placed in one of the beds, and Ms Fontaine was checking over him. She didn't even look up when I walked in.

'Is he ok?' I asked as Ms Fontaine straightened up.

'I found choke marks on his neck,' she replied, rummaging around in a drawer. 'His body has also gone into hypothermic shock, and something is interfering with his heart's regular beating. And because of all that, he is in a coma.'

We all gasped in shock. She shook her head sadly at us.

'There is more unfortunately,' she said. 'His core body temperature is 21 degrees. Any lower, he'll be brain dead.'


	4. The Prophecy

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters, nor do I own the song ('Love is only a Feeling' sung by the band Darkness). I do own the prophecy/poem though.

* * *

**4 – Chapter 3: The Prophecy**

**(Alexis' POV)**

There was silence, apart from the rustle of papers. Ms Fontaine pulled some hot water bottles out of the drawer and handed them to me.

'Fill them with hot water,' she instructed. I nodded and filled the bottles at the sink. When I returned to her, Chazz had wheeled the portable heater close to Jaden's bed and turned it on full blast. Ms Fontaine was covering his body with warm blankets. I passed the hot water bottles to her, and she slipped them under the blanket, close to his body. Syrus and Atticus were leaning against the wall, watching the nurse.

'There is nothing more I can do until his body temperature goes above at least 28ْC,' Ms Fontaine said as she straightened up. 'You all can stay fore another half-hour, but then you'll have to go to your period three class. Come back after school to see if there are any changes.'

She headed towards the door, then suddenly paused with her hand on the handle.

'Chazz?' she asked.

Chazz turned to her. 'Yeah?'

'You're not meant to move a person with hypothermia. The movement could overwork their heart and cause it to stop.' And with that, she was out the door.

We all stared at each other, then back at Jaden. What was visible of his skin seemed even paler than it had on the beach.

It just wasn't natural.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

Haou...

'What did you do?' I asked, my voice trembling dangerously.

His golden eyes stared into mine emotionlessly. 'Nothing,' he replied coldly.

'You must have done something,' I insisted in a slightly stronger voice. 'You've been causing the memories of the Dark World to enter my dreams and haunt me!'

He shook his head sadly; the first hint of emotion I've seen from the cold king. 'This is not my doing. Darkness in any shape and form manipulates a parson's thoughts and emotions, amplifying their negative feelings and suppressing the positive ones.'

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but then his reply caught up to me, as well as what I knew of his past from Yubel.

_FLASHBACK_

_ 'He wasn't always this way. Once, he was kind, sweet, and happy. For some reason, when he was reborn inside of you, he was dark.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

'It has happened to you?'

He inclined his head slightly in reply. We then both turned to look at the mirrors once more. It now showed an unfamiliar scene. Murky dark waters lapped onto a rocky shore. On the rocks stood a woman, with flowing golden hear cascading down her shoulders, and hazel eyes. She wore a wedding dress. She was a beauty that did not belong in that desolate place. But something about her looked familiar ...

She opened her mouth and sang, a hauntingly beautiful sound that echoed despairingly across the dirty waters.

'_Ah, the first flush of youth was upon you when our eyes first met_

_and I knew that to you and into your life I had to get_

_Ah, I felt light headed at the touch of this stranger's hand_

_An assault my defenses systematically failed to withstand.'_

More mirrors appeared around the one I was staring into as she sang, reflecting different scenes: me duelling Dr Crowler during the entrance exam and Alexis watching from above with Zane beside her, Alexis and I duelling after Syrus got caught in the Obelisk girls dorm...

_FLASHBACK_

_'Impressed?'_

_ 'Impressed? I think I'm in love.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

'_Cause you came at a time when the pursuit of one true love_

_in which to fall_

_was the be all and end all.'_

I loved her, I knew that now. But did it really take the time for me to lose her in order to realize how much she truly meant to me? In the mirrors, I could see a scene in the Dark World, where Hassleberry, Atticus and Alexis turned into particles of light and disappeared. I could still hear her last words before she was sent to the stars.

_FLASHBACK_

_ 'I guess I was wrong. We don't matter at all, and its' so sand to know that.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

'I love you Alexis,' I whispered. Haou stirred by my side. _But she would never love me back..._

As if to emphasize the validity of my unspoken words, the beautiful maiden in the centre mirror began drifting away.

'_Love is only a feeling drifting away_

_When I'm in your arms and I start believing it's here to stay_

_But love is only a feeling_

_Anyway.'_

The mirrors around me now reflected images of my friends: Syrus, Bastion, Chazz, Alexis, Zane, Atticus, Aster, Jim, Axel, Jesse...

'_Ah, the state of elation that is unison of hearts achieved_

_I had seen, I had touched, I had lusted and I truly believed_

_That the light of my life would tear a hole right through each cloud_

_That scudded by_

_Just to beam on you and I'_

A foggy mist began surrounding me, obscuring everything except the mirrors from view. I could no longer sense Haou's presence beside me, as the figure in the centre mirror sang her final lines.

'_Love is only a feeling drifting away_

_When I'm in your arms and I start believing it's here to stay_

_But love is only a feeling_

_Anyway_

_Anyway_

_Love is only a feeling drifting away_

_When I'm in your arms and I start believing it's here to stay_

'_cause love is only a feeling_

_Anyway.'_

The figure faded away into the rocks she stood on, as the mirrors reflecting the images of my friends shattered around me. Syrus, Bastion, Chazz, Alexis, Zane, Atticus, Aster, Jim, Axel, Jesse... they were all gone.

The fog grew thicker, and it grew colder than it was before. I shivered, hugging myself tight in a vain attempt to keep myself warm.

I looked around. All I could see around me was fog.

I was alone.

* * *

**(3rd person POV)**

Yubel frowned as she observed the foggy interior of Jaden's soul. Naturally, the changes in him would eventually affect her as well. After all, their souls have merged together into one.

'Stay strong Jaden,' she whispered, her thoughts drifting off to Jaden's past life as a prince of the Dark World.

_FLASHBACK_

_A young boy looked out into the courtyard from the balcony. His skin was a healthy cream colour, and his green eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun. His purple hair tossed around in the gentle breeze._

_ 'Yubel.' The boy turned at the mention of his name, and saw the king standing behind him. He had an air of confidence, and his black hair and beard shone in the sunlight._

_ 'Now listen. I must explain why you are here.'_

_ 'Yes sir.'_

_ 'At the dawn of time, the universe was born of light and dark energy. At first chaos and evil ruled the world under the power of light. After countless rulers had passed, the dark energy restored order and banished this evil. But Yubel, the light waves of chaos now travel through space looking to return one day. Only one person can stop it, the one born with the power of the Supreme King in his heart. The one is he, it is my son the prince. But he is a temporary vessel for the power. The power will pass in time, as it does. Someone must follow and protect that vessel.' _

_ 'Please my king, let that person be me.'_

_The king looked at the purple haired youth, his green eyes blazing with determination. 'In order to do so, the sacred female dragon heart will have to be implanted in you. It will give you many powers, the most prominent of these being a shield that will reflect any damage intended to be inflicted onto you. But this power will come at a price. With the dragon heart in your body, you will no longer be human'_

_ 'I don't care!' the youth cried passionately. 'As long as I can protect him, I don't care what happens to me.'_

_The king considered. 'Very well. I'll inform my sages.'_

_ 'My king!' a cry came from the doorway. Both the king and Yubel turned towards the voice, and saw the king's seer standing there. He was __Crystal Seer__, the spirit of a water attribute Spellcaster. His nose and mouth was covered by a dark blue cloth, and a cape of the same colour billowed around him. Underneath the cloak, he wore a red traditional style dress, and on his head, a red turban. A crystal blue orb floated in front of him._

_ 'I had a vision,' he said quietly._

_ 'What did you see?' the king questioned._

_ 'I saw ...' he took a deep breath before continuing. 'I saw a young boy, probably seventeen years of age. He possessed the spirit of the Supreme King within him, and seemed to afflicted with a dark power. I saw a young lady of the same age, with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair, and you,' gesturing at Yubel with his right hand, 'in the form of a duel monster spirit, reciting these words:_

_Life is God's most precious gift,_

_Of all, its passing is very swift_

_Verily, in the heart, a fire is born,_

_Even when sleep is death and hope is gone._

_Lasting a lifetime or even more,_

_Only this can open the king's door._

_Via expression of the heart's content,_

_Enter the dreams and understand what is meant._

_Light the everlasting darkness through,_

_Open your hearts and heed this clue._

_Vacate the heart of guilt and sorrow,_

_Endure and take the step tomorrow.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

'I failed you in the past Jaden,' she whispered. 'I let my selfishness and jealousy get the better of me, and that almost cost me your love. But I know better now. You have found your way into more hearts than one dear Jaden, and I am content with sharing your affection with them.'

She looked out into the infirmary that Jaden's body currently lay in. The small bluenette was sitting on a chair beside the bed, and the brunette and black haired teen leaned against the closed wall. The dirty blonde stood on the other side of the bed, her hazel eyes looking worriedly down on the motionless body lying on the bed.

_Wait a sec...,_she thought. _Dirty blonde and hazel. Could it be? The girl connected to the prophecy?_

She made to stand, before remembering something.

_Only the black haired boy can see monster spirits, and I doubt they'll take too kindly to my appearance after the whole duel academy in another dimension fiasco, as well as the Dark World issue. So how am I supposed to get the message to them?_

She let out a cry of frustration. How indeed?


	5. Presence of the Night

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. The duel's been edited too. Hopefully I've got the effects right this time round.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters

* * *

**5 – Chapter 4: Presence of the Night**

A cloaked figure knelled in the dim light. In front of him whirled a mass of darkness.

'Master' the cloaked figure said respectfully.

'You have done well my servant,' the Darkness hissed in reply, his voice low and menacing.' Soon the Supreme King will fall like he should have years ago. And then, the world will be plunged into my darkness.'

'There might be a problem master,' the servant whimpered. '_She _has been reborn.'

'Then _she_ will have to be eliminated. But perhaps we ought to make _her_ suffer first.'

The darkness cackled evilly. 'See to it, Shadow Night,' he commanded in a dismissive tone.

'Yes sir,' the cloaked figure stood up and bowed to his master before leaving.

Alexis looked down at her friend worriedly, standing beside the hospital bed. Syris sat on a chair on the other side, and Atticus and Chazz leaned against a wall. They were all silent.

Ms Fontaine entered the infirmary and noticed their long faces.

'He'll be okay,' she said quietly. 'He always is, he's strong.'

'I know,' Alexis whispered, sounding despairingly close to tears. 'But what type of friends are we? We weren't there when he needed us most.'

'If only there was a way to find out what happened,' Atticus said thoughtfully. 'When Kuriboh came to you Chazz, what exactly did he say?'

Chazz started suddenly.' Why didn't we think of that before?'

'Think of what?' the others asked.

'Think of asking Jaden's cards,' He got off the wall and walked to the comatose brunette. 'Winged Kuriboh?' he called softly, a waiting a reply.

At this point Winged Kuriboh was searching for Yubel. Catching sight of her black dragon wings, he speed up and called out to the female spirit.

Yubel turned, hearing the cry of Jaden's duel spirit.

'What is it little one.' she questioned.

'Kuri Kuri …[Jaden's friends want some answers]_.'_ He replied.

She was silent for a minute, before replying. 'I know what happened and I might know a way to help, but I'll have to show them and I doubt they'll trust to my appearance. And even if they did, I cannot maintain a pure physical form in their world without Jaden's power.

'Kuri [there might be a way]' Kuriboh looked thoughtfully, before flying back in the direction he came from, leaving Yubel with her mouth hanging open. Realising that she looked rather foolish like that, she closed her mouth and resumed staring at Jaden's prone form.

* * *

**(Chazz POV) **

'Winged Kuriboh,' I called in a slightly louder voice, after receiving no reply.

'Kuri' [yes], he asked appearing near Jaden's head and flying towards me.

'Do you know what happened to Jaden?' I asked, hoping he did.

'Kuri Kuri[I don't know what happened to him, but I know someone who does]_.'_

'Who'

'Kuri [Yubel]_.'_

'Yubel?' I exploded. 'She is the one who sucked all the energy from the students here in order to be reborn. She is the one took Jesse, making Jaden to follow him and us follow there. She is the one who make Bronn inflict us with the wicked doctrine texts, who made Jaden the Supreme King and...'

My rant was cut off by Kuriboh. 'Kuri [that wasn't Yubel's fault]_.'_

That stopped me. 'What do you mean it wasn't her fault?' I asked in a slightly gentler tone. I found it weird that Winged Kuriboh was defending Yubel when he was supposed to be on Jaden's side. 'And how did she survive anyways. Didn't Jaden defeat her?'

'What are you talking about Chazz?' asked Syrus, who was trying rather unsuccessfully, to follow the conversation.

'Winged Kuriboh says he doesn't know what happened to Jaden but Yubel does and what happened in the three sun desert and the Dark World wasn't really her fault.'

'Kuri Kurii [Yubel's soul was afflicted by the light of destruction, which made her insane. You see, she wasn't always a dragon. In her past life, she was a human boy under the leadership of the king of the dark world. The king's son, Haou and Yubel were inseparable and Yubel swore he would do anything to protect his prince. Jaden is a reincarnated form of that prince, and Yubel now is his guardian and she will protect him until the end of time. When Jaden learned of this, he forgave Yubel and fused his soul with her using Super Polymerisation so she was purified from the light of destruction's evil powers. She's good now.]'

I relayed Kuriboh's words to others, before taking a seat in a vacant chair.

'Can we trust her?' Syrus asked doubtfully.' She did try to destroy us all in the other world.'

'If Jaden fused his soul with hers, then he trusted her and that's good enough for me,' Alexis declared passionately. I scowled a bit at the passion, but didn't comment. My thoughts at present were elsewhere.

'How are I able to understand you now?' I asked the winged spirit. When you come to us before, I needed Ojama Yellow to translate.'

'Kuri [Yubel's power]'_,_ he replied, shrugging.

'What do you think Chazz?'Atticus asked me from his position on the wall.

'I don't trust her, 'I replied after a moment's thought.

'Jaden does,' Alexis insisted.

'I know,' I snapped back, getting frustrated with everything that's going on. 'But it's Jaden. He even pep talked a shadow rider and tried reasoning with the light of destruction for god's sake.'

'He wouldn't have let Yubel back if it would endanger us. Jaden cares for his friends more than anything else. He wouldn't let anything hurt us if he could stop it.'

'Then what happened in the dark world? I exploded, having had enough. Stunned silence met my outcry.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

Right now I felt like grabbing my brother's ukulele and beating him up with it. I was too shocked initially to react and I could tell Syrus and my brother were too.

'What part of Dark World don't you get?' Syrus (surprisingly)replied after a while. 'Jaden didn't want us to follow to begin with. I agree with Lex.'

I smiled softly at the bluenetle and he blushed slightly in reply. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my brother taking out his ukulele from seemingly nowhere and run his fingers along the strings.

'He ran into that portal knowing he wouldn't let him go alone.' Chazz retorted. 'Then he starts wallowing in self pity while his alter ego killed thousands of duellists, including two of his own friends. How do we know if we can trust him anymore? He's like a completely different person.'

I hissed venomously, Chazz had gone too far that time. I was just about to give him a piece of my mind, when Atticus ukulele connected with skull with a sickening thud.

Chazz fell sideways off his chair and on to the floor, unconscious.

'That felt better,' Atticus said, storing the instrument away. Syrus and I laughed, and the tension in the room eased up. Atticus was grinning like a maniac and Ms Fontaine, who was in her office hadn't heard the commotion. _Thank god_.

'Not that I am complaining, but why did you suddenly decide to hit Chazz on the head with your ukulele?' I asked once the laughter died down.

'I couldn't help myself,' my crazy brother replied.

I sighed irritably before turning my gaze to the window. A flash of black caught my eyes. I blinked and the offending object was gone. I frowned.

'Hey Alexis?' Syrus asked suddenly.

I tore my gaze from the window. 'Yeah?'

'How are we supposed to speak to Winged Kuriboh now that Atticus has knocked the translator unconscious?'

'Um…'

'Nightshroud,' Atticus intervened, his face uncharacteristically serious.

'What?' Syrus and I exclaimed.

'Nightshroud can create shadow games. During that, spirits of the cards can travel from their own world into ours partially. We could talk to Yubel and even if she wanted to harm us, she wouldn't be able to.'

Syrus nodded but I frowned. 'Atti, what if Nightshroud takes over?'

'Then who ever duels will have to win' he replied.

'But-' I protested, before being cut off by Syrus.

'Let him do this Alexis, it's the only way'.

I stared at him, _Syrus __sure has grown up since that scared little kid back in year one,_ I thought. After what seemed is an eternity, I relented.

All right,' I said, grabbing Jaden's deck from where it lay on the bedside table. 'I'll duel if you don't mind.' I looked at him.

'Be my guest,' he replied.

Syrus walked over to the door, where my brother was already waiting, ice-pack finally off his foot. After a final glance at Jaden, I followed as they walked over to the obelisk dwelling arena, only minutes before period three starts.

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

Shadow Night smirked, hidden in the shadows outside the infirmary. Those duellists were walking right into his trap. Once the bonds between the girl and her friends were undermined, she would be left vulnerable for the master.

He slowed a bit as he heard laughter and the darkness inside the room began receding.

_Oh well,_ he thought heading off. _There is always next time.

* * *

_

**(Alexis' POV) **

We activated our duel disks minutes later, setting the life-point meter at 8000 to prolong the time and increase the chances of summoning Yubel, as opposed to 4000 as was normal. I shuffled Jaden's deck into my own and placed it into my duel disk, as Atticus dressed in his Nightshroud outfit, placed Nightshroud mash over his mouth and nose. Taking Nightshroud's deck from his blazer pocket, he inserted it into his duel disk and drew six cards. I drew five and waited for him make his first move.

Nightshroud: 8000

Alexis: 8000

'I draw' Nightshroud said, as he drew his sixth card. 'And I play Red Eyes Black Chick. He slammed the card into a monster card slot and a dark pink egg appeared in front of him. The top of the egg cracked as I watched a small black dragonhead poked its head out of the shell. 'I now activate my chick's special ability,' he continued, sending the card to his graveyard and selecting another from his hand. 'I sacrifice my chick to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon.' He placed the card into his monster card zone and his chick vanished in a burst of fire and was replaced by a larger black dragon.

Neither Syrus nor I reacted, having seen him play the same strategy against Jaden. Nightshroud didn't seem fazed by our lack of reaction, simply selecting another card from his hand and inserting it into his spell trap card zone. 'I activate Inferno Fire Blast,' he said. 'Since I didn't attack with Red Eye Black Dragon this turn, its attack points are dealt as damage to your life points.'

The dragon opened its mouth and let loose a torrent of fire. I raised my hand's to shield myself from the blast, but was knocked down to my knees as my life points dropped.

Nightshroud: 8000

Alexis: 5600

Breathing heavily, I got back on my feet, gritting my teeth to cancel out the pain that came from the shadow game. Darkness swirled around Nightshroud as he activated his next card. 'I now sacrifice Red Eye Black Dragon in order to summon forth Red Eyes Darkness Dragon. The dragon on his field vanished in another burst of flame before being replaced by a larger, fiercer black dragon. "And for every dragon type monster in my graveyard, he gains 300 attack points. And I'll end my turn with two cards face down.'

I wasted no time in drawing my next card, before slamming it into the monster card slot. 'I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode' I declared as my petite ballerina monster appeared in all her glory. 'And I equip her with Allegro Tool so say goodbye to your left face down card.'

Cyber Tutu twirled to my opponent's field taking out the face down in question, which was revealed to be Negate Attack smiling at my victory, I continued with my move. 'Thanks to Cyber Tutu's special ability, she can attack you directly.' Cyber Tutu twirled once again to Nightshroud's field, before kicking him in the stomach and returning to my field.

Nightshroud: 7000

Alexis: 5600

'I'm not done yet,' I admonished the other duellist, selecting a card in my hand and placing it in my spell trap card zone.' Quick play spell Prima Light, activate. I sacrifice Cyber Tutu to summon Cyber Prima in attack mode.' I slipped Cyber Tutu into my graveyard and placed Cyber Prima in its place. On my field Cyber Tutu disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a taller, grey clad feminine monster.

'Your Cyber Prima isn't strong enough to stop my Red Eyes' Nightshroud input.

'Didn't you learn anything from your duel with Jaden,' I shot back. 'Battle Fusion, activates,' I declared, revealing the next card in my hand. 'It increases my monster's attack points by yours_._ Now attack Red Eyes Darkness Dragon!'

Cyber Prima spun around, letting loose a grey typhoon, which when released, struck the dragon, blasting it into a thousand pieces.

Nightshroud: 5700

Alexis: 5600

Nightshroud simply smirked, before revealing his remaining face down card. 'I activate the trap card Miracle's Wake to summon back my Red Eyes Darkness Dragon.'

'Great,' I muttered. 'Just when I was rid of it. 'I play one card face down and end,' I said placing a card face down in my spell trap card zone.

'Oh, there's more' he replied, his smirk widening as he drew his next card. 'I play Graceful Charity drawing three cards, from my deck in exchange for two from my hand.' He drew his three cards, before selecting two of them and slipping them into his graveyard. 'Since I sent Mirage Dragon to the graveyard, Red Eyes Darkness Dragon gains 300 additional attack points. Then I'll summon Bomber Dragon in attack mode.'

_Oh no,_ I thought as this newest dragon took the field. I knew full well its effect, and judging by the whimper that escaped his lips, so did Syrus.

'Bomber Dragon attack!' Nightshroud declared the battle and due to Bomber Dragon's effect both monsters were instantly destroyed.

'Go trap card, Hallowed Light Barrier,' I cried waving my hand over my set card to activate it. 'I discard Elemental Hero Bubbleman in order to negate all damage you can dish out this turn.'

So my points were safe, I thought as an afterthought, slipping Jaden's hero into my graveyard.

'I equip my Darkness Dragon with Mist Body to end my turn' he stated. _'_I take it you know what Mist Body does.'

'Of course I know,' I snapped, drawing my next card and adding it to my hand. 'But it won't matter, because I activate Heaven's Lost Property, forcing the two of us to draw three cards and discard two.' I discarded Sparkman and Hero Kid, before selecting a new card and activating it. 'I activate Legacy of A Hero. With Sparkman and Bubbleman in my graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck, following it up with Monster Reborn to summon Bubbleman from the graveyard.'

Bubbleman appeared in a burst of bubbles and I drew two new cards due to his effect, placing one in my hand and activating the other. 'I play the spell Silent Doom to summon back Cyber Prima in defense mode.'

Cyber Prima returned to my field in defense mode, shattering the Mist Body equipped to Red Eyes Darkness Dragon with her effect.

'Cyber Prima destroys all spell cards of the field once she's summoned,' I explained. 'And now I sacrifice them all to summon Yubel.'


	6. Yubel's Story

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. The duel's been edited too.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

I'm back with a new chapter, so read and enjoy, and please leave a review to let me know what you think. And to answer Windona's question, here is the effect of Mist Body:

_The equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)_

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters

* * *

**6 - Chapter 5: Yubel's Story**

**(Alexis' POV)**

Yubel appeared on the field, her bicromatic eyes fixed on Nightshroud's mask, and bat-like wings moving in the non-existent wind. Nightshroud, being Nightshroud, showed no emotion towards the newest edition to my team, although Syrus looked slightly fearful. I probably did as well.

Yubel turned to me, bowing her head slightly, her third eye gleaming in the light of the arena.

'Thank you,' she said. 'For trusting me.'

'Jaden trusts you,' I repeated. 'That's good enough for me.'

She nodded thoughtfully. 'You love him.'

It was not a question. I blushed bright red in response, causing Syrus to erupt into a fit of giggles from the sidelines. Yubel waited for Syrus to stop giggling before continuing. 'Do you both want to know what happened to Jaden?' she asked. I nodded without any hesitation, as did Syrus.

Her bichromatic eyes glowed, and the arena we were duelling on vanished and was replaced by a beautiful castle enclosed in a fortress of lava. The balcony we stood on looked out into the courtyard, which at the time was empty.

A young boy stood near us, looking into the courtyard from the balcony. His skin was a healthy cream colour, and his green eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun. His purple hair tossed around in the gently breeze.

'Yubel.' The boy turned at the mention of his name, as did Syrus and I, seeing a man that possessed a natural air of confidence, his black hair and beard shining in the sunlight, as well as the golden crown on his head.

'That's you?' Syrus asked, turning back to the duel spirit, She nodded, staring at the doorway.

'Now listen,' the king continued. 'I must explain why you are here.'

'Yes sir,' the boy replied.

'At the dawn of time, the universe was born of light and dark energy. At first chaos and evil rules the world under the power of light. After countless rulers had passed, the dark energy restored order and banished this evil. But Yubel, the light waves of chaos now travel through space looking to return one day. Only one person can stop it, the one born with the power of the Supreme King in his heart. The one is he, it is my son the prince. But he is a temporary vessel for the power. The power will pass in time, as it does. Someone must follow and protect that vessel.'

'Please my king, let that person be me.'

The king looked at the purple haired youth, his green eyes blazing with determination. 'In order to do so, the sacred female dragon heart will have to be implanted in you. It will give you many powers, the most prominent of these being a shield that will reflect any damage intended to be inflicted onto you. But this power will come at a price. With the dragon heart in your body, you will no longer be human'

Syrus and I listened to the exchange in amazement. 'You gave up your own humanity to protect the Supreme King,' I asked, turning to Yubel (the present one).

'He was dear to me,' the duel spirit replied. 'But I Was too selfish to share his love with another.'

'What do you mean?'

'Watch and see,' she replied, turning back to the boy and the king on the balcony.

'My king!' a cry came from the doorway. Both the king and Yubel turned towards the voice, and saw the king's seer standing there. He was Crystal Seer, the spirit of a water attribute Spellcaster. His nose and mouth was covered by a dark blue cloth, and a cape of the same colour billowed around him. Underneath the cloak, he wore a red traditional style dress, and on his head, a red turban. A crystal blue orb floated in front of him.

'I had a vision,' he said quietly.

'What did you see?' the king questioned.

'I saw ...' he took a deep breath before continuing. 'I saw a young boy, probably seventeen years of age. He possessed the spirit of the Supreme King within him, and seemed to afflicted with a dark power. I saw a young lady of the same age, with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair, and you,' gesturing at Yubel with his right hand, 'in the form of a duel monster spirit, reciting these words:

Life is God's most precious gift,

Of all, its passing is very swift

Verily, in the heart, a fire is born,

Even when sleep is death and hope is gone.

Lasting a lifetime or even more,

Only this can open the king's door.

Via expression of the heart's content,

Enter the dreams and understand what is meant.

Light the everlasting darkness through,

Open your hearts and heed this clue.

Vacate the heart of guilt and sorrow,

Endure and take the step tomorrow.'

Syrus stared at me, confused. 'What does that mean?'

I shrugged. 'Dunno. Yubel?'

'The boy they were talking about,' she explained. 'is Jaden.'

Our eyes widened. 'So Crystal Seer predicted that this would happen to him?' I asked.

'To some extent,' Yubel replied. 'He wasn't aware of the intricate details. And it was extremely fortunate that he didn't.'

We both gave her questioning looks, and she elaborated, as the air around us began to shimmer and change once more.

'The prince promised to always keep me by his side. But then his father, the king, announced that we was to get engaged to a princess from a neighbouring land, She arrived at the palace, and the prince fell in love with her, and began spending less time with me. I was jealous of her, But they both had other enemies as well, and word travels fast. There aren't many things that can stay secret around here.'

By now the three of us were standing in an old-fashioned ritual chamber. Sages surrounded the Yubel from the past, who lay on the stone tablet with a washcloth covering his eyes, and his face scrunched in pain.

Someone suddenly burst through the doors, crying out for the Sages to stop. He bore a strong resemblance to Jaden, although his hair was tame, and his clothes different, But he was too late; the transformation had already begun.

'Is that Jaden's past life?' I asked.

'Yes,' Yubel replied. 'And he is the heir to the throne of the Dark World.'

'Is that why so few people questioned his rule when Haou took over?' Syrus questioned.

Yubel nodded in confirmation. 'They recognised and feared the power of the Supreme King. Here, the Supreme King has the status of a God.'

I gasped. 'He's that powerful? No wonder so many power hungry morons are after Jaden.'

'But he looks so kind and gentle,' Syrus said, looking at the young prince. 'How could this be the same person who killed so many innocent people and duel spirits?'

'I'm not exactly sure,' Yubel admitted. 'Something must have happened between the time he was killed in this world and the time he was reborn into yours.'

'But how did he die?

'Cowardly stabbed in the back by a follower of the Light as soon as he won the war against them and restored peace and order to the universe. But I used my own powers to save his soul and send it to your dimension so he could be reborn. Obviously he remained some time in limbo, and I assume something happened there. Haou would know best.

But problems arose with his death, His father, the previous king, had died in battle a few months previously, and so Jaden inherited the throne. When Jaden died, the line of kings ended, so a new line had to be elected. Naturally the people elected his fiancé, but the two were spiritually connected, and she was only in office for a few days before she too, died.

The next elected king was a corrupted, power hungry man, and the kingdom began to slip into darkness and chaos. His successor only made things worse, having killed the previous king to gain the throne, and soon corruption spread from the kingdom into neighbouring lands, and eventually devoured the entire dimension, which was renamed Dark World.

Because of the spiritual link between Jaden and his fiancé, she was also reborn into your world, and I followed, in order to protect the power of the Supreme King as I had sworn to. But I was too overprotective of him, and you both know what happened next.'

Yubel turned and looked straight into my eyes. 'Nearly eighteen years later, the bond between the two of you still exists, and will allow you to reach him when no-one else can.'

I stared back at her, confused momentarily, before realisation dawned on me. 'You mean I was Jaden's fiancé in the past!'

'You're his fiancé in this life too,' Syrus input, causing my blush to return with vengeance, before turning back to Yubel. 'You mentioned their enemies before. Were there any others apart from the Light and its followers?'

'Well, there is the one whom we call Darkness,' Yubel responded. 'It and its followers were quite deceptive in nature, and whilst the Light sought to kill Jaden directly, the Darkness used more manipulative means to weaken bonds of trust and friendship and turn people against one another. And I guess they both succeeded to some extent, till Jaden defeated the Society of Light in your world and restored order in this.'

I put my hand on my chin thoughtfully. 'So either Light or Darkness is responsible for Jaden's current condition?'

'I think we can rule out the Light,' Syrus responded. 'After all, Jaden sealed it away forever.'

Yubel simply shrugged. 'Forever's relative.

'Perhaps,' I said, removing my hand from my chin to tuck a few stray strands of my blonde hair behind my ear. 'But I don't think that the Light would be able to make a half-way decent come back in less than half a year.'

'That's true,' the duel spirit replied. 'It's more likely that Darkness is responsible, since Jaden's soul seems to be covered in it, as well as the infirmary room. Crystal Seer also mentioned a dark power, and it seems to be the only logical explanation.

Now, I've told you all I know. The rest is up to you Alexis.' The duelling arena then came into view, as did Nightshroud, who looked slightly impatient.

_Did no time pass? _I wondered, looking at my wristwatch. Indeed, only a couple of minutes had passed since I summoned Yubel to the field.

I scanned the arena quickly to make sure nothing had changed in my absence. Nothing had. After reading Yubel's special ability, I declared her attack of Red Eyes Darkness Dragon.

Nightshroud: 2100

Alexis: 5600

'I play one card face down and end,' I said calmly, inserting Negate Attack face down. Yubel also went to my graveyard, since I had no monsters to sacrifice to keep her in play.

'You've left yourself wide open for an attack,' Nightshroud commented casually, drawing his next card. 'I play Pot of Greed, then in face down defence mode.' He placed the drawn card face down on his monster card zone, before declaring an attack.

'Not so fast,' I said, flipping over Negate Attack. 'Thanks to this, your battle phase is ended.'

Nightshroud scowled. 'Till next time then. I'll just play Goblin Thief to end my turn.'

Nightshroud: 2600

Alexis: 5100

I drew my next card, which happened to be Pot of Greed, before immediately activating it, drawing two new cards. Playing one face down, I revealed the two cards remaining in my hand to my opponent. 'I activate Double Spell, discarding Polymerization to add your Inferno Fire Blast to my hand.'

'Won't do no good without Red Eyes,' he shot back, scowling as he took the chosen card out of his grave, before tossing it to me.

'I sure we can fix that,' I replied easily, activating another Pot of Greed, before drawing two cards. I glanced at them quickly before slamming one into my spell/trap card zone. 'I play Monster Reborn to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon from your graveyard, and with one less dragon, Darkness Dragon loses 300 attack points.'

Nightshroud scowled again, knowing full well what I was about to do. 'I play Inferno Fire Blast,' I continued, 'Dealing 2400 points of damage to your life points.

Nightshroud: 200

Alexis: 5100

'I end my turn,' I stated, looking at the last card in my hand, Machine Angel Ritual, which wouldn't help me too much in this situation.

'I draw,' Nightshroud drew his next card and glanced at it, before playing it. 'I play Card of Demise to draw five cards, then I equip Red Eyes Darknesss Dragon with Megamorph, to double his original attack points.'

'Oh no,' Syrus muttered from the sidelines.

'And if you think it's over, think again.' He flipped his Man Eater Bug over, a small insect like holographic projection appearing on the field in attack mode. 'Its special ability destroys a monster on your field, so say goodbye to Red Eyes.'

'Great,' I muttered, watching my last line of defence vaporise in front of my eyes. 'It's over,' Nightshroud declared, pointing his index finger at me. 'Since Red Eyes Black Dragon was resent to my graveyard, Darkness Dragon gains an additional 300 attack points, for a grand total of 6000. Now attack her directly and end this duel! Inferno Dark Fire!'

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon let loose a blast of energy, which converged into a flame ball, and as each second passed, came closer and closer to hitting its target. Me.

_There's no way I can lose, _I thought fiercely, eyeing my face down card. _Too much is depending on me right now. Jaden, my brother, and the fate of duel academy... I have to win!_


	7. Darkness on the Move

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. The duel's been edited too.**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

I've finally finished my exams, and school for the year, but they (our teachers for induction) gave too much homework to be able to call this a holiday! I mean, seriously, they call this a break!

This story was originally ten chapters long, but my plan was pretty loose. Some stuff in this chapter was supposed to happen at least three chapters ago. But regardless, it is nearing the end. Anyway, I've opened up a poll to let you readers vote for which story you want me to start writing after this story is completed. Please vote. The poll will be closed once the epilogue for this story is posted up.

Anyway, new chapter is done, so read, enjoy and review (please! They really make my day).

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters. I only own the plot, and one character so far.

* * *

**7 - Chapter 6: Darkness on the Move**

Shadow Night walked calmly through the hallways, dressed in an Obelisk Blazer to blend in. Olive hair framed his pale face, and his blue eyes were hidden by his bangs. As he passed a storage room, he paused, hearing a voice within the room. A very familiar voice, which once had held a very high place in his heart.

'Honest,' he whispered, turning back to the door. He placed his hand on the handle, before withdrawing it sharply as pain temporarily clouded his mind. Images suddenly flashed through his mind: a young boy playing happily with a winged spirit, a car crash, a funeral, and a young boy crying.

He blinked, and the pain and images suddenly vanished. Pushing them out of his mind temporarily, he continued down the corridor, ignoring the cry of the trapped spirit. He may return later, if an opportunity presented itself, but now, he had orders to carry out.

_FLASHBACK_

_ 'The darkness in these duellists is strong. Use it, and draw them into my world. Their darkness will fuel my might and enhance my power, and when the power of the Supreme King and his Maiden fail, all the worlds will be covered in the power of my darkness, with no-one to rage against it.' The speaker, hidden in the shadows, turned to the other, Shadow Night. 'Weaken their trust in each other. The more they fight, the more darkness they expel. Darkness that will build my power. Every duel they lose will make me stronger.'_

_ 'Yes Master.' Shadow Night bowed and left._

_END FLASHBACK_

He paused at the end of the hallway, his enhanced hearing (a gift from the darkness) picking up faint footsteps to the left, towards the Duel Academy Central Computer Room.

He smirked. Looks like he's found his target.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

Darkness Dragon's attack neared, and I knew I had to act now.

'I play Mystical Space Typhoon,' I cried, flipping over my face-down cards. 'I destroy Megamorph.'

A wide cyclone erupted from the holographic projection of Mystical Space Typhoon and blew away the equip spell on Darkness Dragon, lowering its attack points to 3600. The weakened attack hit, knocking me to my knees again and leaving my life points stable at 2000.

Nightshroud: 200

Alexis: 1500

'I play Book of Moon to change my bug into face down defence position once more and end my turn,' Nightshroud said.

Praying under my breath, I drew my card, hoping it was what I needed to tip the table in my favour. Looking at it, I scowled. It was The Warrior Returning Alive. Like that was going to help. Thinking hard, I glared at the two cards in my hand, trying to pick apart a strategy, before an idea came to me.

'I play The Warrior Returning Alive to return Elemental Hero Bubbleman to my hand, and then I'll summon it.'

The water attribute hero appeared on the field once more, and I drew two cards due to its effect. I smiled at these new additions; I knew my deck wouldn't fail me. 'Next I summon Cyber Petite Ange;,' I declared, as the petite pink angel took the field. I chose to forgoe it's effect. After all, Machine Angel Ritual was already in my hand.

'Attack mode?' Nightshroud questioned, staring down my monsters. He was correct; both my monsters were in attack mode, but attacking wasn't their purpose. Not this time anyway. 'Neither of your monsters can defeat my Red Eyes.'

I shrugged, playing Machine Angel Ritual. 'With Machine Angel Ritual, I sacrifice Bubbleman and Petite Angel to summon Cyber Angel Benten.'

Bubbleman and Petite Angel disappeared from the field, to be replaced by my Cyber Angel in all her glory. 'Why go for your Red Eyes, when Man Eater Bug is an easier target?'

Nightshroud's eyes widened in fear behind the mask at his mistake, as I declared the final attack of Cyber Angel Benten. Her chains cut through the weak defence, and Nightshroud was forced to take a step back to protect himself from the explosion that followed.

'And I take it you know her special affect,' I said, smirking sweetly. 'When Cyber Angel Benten destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to its defence points. And that's 600.'

'No,' he cried, falling to his knees. 'Impossible!'

Cyber Angel Benten flicked her chains at Nightshroud. As the chains hit, I saw a flicker of my brother's kind (yet sometimes annoying) personality come through. It vanished as soon as it came however, and then all I could see was darkness surrounding Nightshroud as he screamed in rage and defeat as his life points dropped to zero.

Nightshroud: 0

Alexis: 1500

I watched, an expression of shock evident on my face, as the darkness disappeared. No trace of my brother remained. And of Nightshroud, all that remained was a card that held his mask in chains.

'No,' I whispered, tears starting to fall, much like the day my brother had returned. _He couldn't be gone, _I thought. _Not after all it took to get him back, he couldn't just vanish again._

I felt Syrus' presence beside me, but I payed no heed to him. _If only I had been nicer to him. If only I hadn't taken his brotherly affection and protection for granted. If only I hadn't agreed to this. If only..._

'Life is too short to waste with the "if only's",' Syrus interrupted as though reading my mind. He answered my questioning look by saying, 'it was something Zane said to me, before ...' His voice choked up with emotion and he was unable to continue.

I nodded. He knew how I felt. He had seen his brother die right in front of his eyes, in the Dark World. And although the rest of us were revived after Jaden's duel with Yubel, he was yet to return.

My gaze flickered to the clock mounted on the wall, taking in its simplistic design. After staring at it for awhile, my tired brain finally registered the time.

'Shouldn't the bell have gone by now?'

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

The rare rays of light that had been reflected by the mirrors had now disappeared, due to the lack thereof. Partly, I was grateful, as that meant I wouldn't have to watch my crimes an uptenth time. Yet I yearned for that small sense of comfort; the small sense of light in this otherwise black darkness.

And it was cold ... so cold.

I had lost track of time. It meant nothing here. Minutes, hours, days ... it was all the same. It didn't matter.

'That's it little king,' a deep voice whispered. 'Despair, and become one with the darkness.'

'Aargh,' I cried, holding my head in my hands, feeling pressure building up in my head. The mysterious voice echoed in the emptiness, and the pressure increased, till the voice faded away, upon which it suddenly vanished.

I massaged my temples, attempting to reduce the pin of the aftermath, while looking for the owner of the voice. A pointless action, since the darkness made it impossible to see.

'Who are you?' I shouted, my voice echoing much as the other had done. It seemed as though volume had no relevance here either.

'Someone who can help you,' was the reply.

Help me?

I thought of my friends. That had all helped me in their own unique way. And they had paid dearly for it. Was I even worthy of this stranger's help now?

And he had addressed me as king. King? 'Haou?'

My voice echoed through the dark abyss again, but no answering call sounded. I exhaled deeply, then regretted the action as something in my chest flared up. I cried out in pain, clutching my chest and falling to my knees, only then realising I was standing, and waiting for the pain to release me once more.

The aftermaths lasted longer this time. For a while, each breath was an agony. But necessary.

'Do you want it all to stop?' the stranger asked me.

I didn't reply

'Do you want solitude? Do you want to feel nothing...no sorrow, no guilt, no pain?'

And still, I didn't answer. Was that what I wanted?

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

Golden eyes stared into the darkness, sensing his other half somewhere in the black abyss. He could hear every word the shadows spoke with nerve-wracking clarity, as he watched as the shadows of his past continued their work, this time in the heart of Jaden Yuki.

* * *

**(Blair's POV)**

I walked up to a set of double doors, and scanned by PDA. A small chime told me my identification was accepted, and I waited patiently for the doors to open.

As I waited, I heard footsteps to my left, and turned to be met with an Obelisk Senior with blue eyes, partially hidden by locks of olive hair.

He did look distinctly familiar, by as no name was coming to mind, I settled with a simple 'Hi.'

He vowed his head to me in reply. 'Hello Blair.'

'I know you?' it wasn't a question. Not really. I knew him, but I just couldn't recall from where.

'Don't you remember?' he asked, sounding hurt. I shook my head, ears ringing from his slightly hypnotic tone. I found I couldn't look away, and then suddenly I felt memories rush into me, ones that validated the truth of his words. The only problem was, they didn't feel exactly right.

I looked over my Slifer jacket. Even though I was now an Obelisk, I wore this jacket as a trademark, a reminder of the one person I truly fell in love with. Not some silly crush, but the real thing.

I hadn't realised I had talked out loud till my companion commented on it. The door had opened by now, but as it didn't look as though I was going anywhere soon, I let it close again.

'You may be in love with him,' Fujiwara said. 'But do you think he will ever fall in love with you?'

I knew the answer to that, but simply didn't want to admit it to myself. I knew he was in love with someone else, although for the most part he was oblivious. And that 'someone else' loved him too, but was too scared to admit it.

I may be a child, but I'm quite good at picking up hints of relationships. Jaden and Alexis are perfect for each other, and if I were to choose someone for him to spend the rest of his life with, I'd choose her in a heartbeat.

But then, where did that leave me?

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

Shadow Night smirked as Blair began to flicker in and out of focus. It was a shame really. She had such a strong sprit, yet so easy to break with a few well chosen words.

And he could sense others being absorbed by darkness without any probing at all. He snorted. How weak these students were.

Alexis and Syrus sprinted through the hallways, which were strangely empty for break time. But thinking about more pressing issues, the two ran for the infirmary. Till Syrus' PDA rang.

He stopped running, took it out of his pocket, and opened it. 'Hello,' he said, as Ms Fontaine's face appeared on the screen.

'Syrus,' Ms Fontaine replied. 'Can you come down to the Western Port of the school?'

'Why?' he asked, confused.

Tears started falling from his eyes at her reply. 'Zane's back.'

He glanced at Alexis, who was waiting a bit impatiently at the end of the corridor. 'I'll be right there,' he said, shutting off his PDA and replacing it in his blazer pocket.

He then cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled. 'Alexis, I need to go somewhere. I'll be back as soon as I can.'

Without waiting for a reply, he shot off towards the Western Port.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

I watched as Syrus ran off somewhere. _He looked exited about something, _I mused. Putting it at the back of my mind to think about later, I continued on to the infirmary, my thoughts now dwelling on the prophecy.

Funning through it again in my head, I felt as though I was missing something. Something very important.

I entered the infirmary and sat beside Jaden, noticing that in out absence, Ms Fontaine had hooked him up to an electrocardiogram which was carefully monitoring his heart rate. The lines looked further apart than normal, and was it just my imagination, or was the distance between them increasing as each minute passed.

My eyes widened almost unconsciously. It wasn't my imagination. His heart rate really was slowing down. At this rate, I've only got a few minutes to understand what the prophecy meant and fulfil it before his heart stopped beating completely.

_Come on Alexis, _I berated myself mentally. _Think!_

Revising the prophecy in my head one more time, I realised something I hadn't realised before. If each stanza was made up of four lines, and you take the first letter of each line, they spelt LOVE.

It wasn't a secret crush anymore. Yubel knew it. Syrus knew it. My brother has been pestering me about it for years. And it wasn't a silly childhood crush either. It was the real thing. Because my heart ached to see him like this.

It was then that my thoughts caught up to me. _Atticus…_

A sudden, drawn out beeping filled my ears, and I sprung up in panic, leaning over Jaden's pale and icy cold face. Every stray thought was obliterated from my mind as his heart stopped beating.

Only one thought rang through my head.

_Via expression of the heart's content._

Without thinking, without even considering the consequences of what I was just about to do, I knelt down, my face mere inches from his own.

'I love you,' I whispered, closing my eyes.

And I kissed him.


	8. The Dreamtrails

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff.  
**_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

New chapter again. I'm writing the chapters a bit faster since I'm on summer holidays. Not too much faster though, because the school still gave us a lot of homework. Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring, it's more of a filler, but unfortunately necessary to move the plot along. So enjoy.

**Disclaimer **_**AGAIN:**_I don't own Yu Gi Oh GX or any of its characters. I only own the story.

* * *

**8 - Chapter 7: The Dreamtrails**

As soon as her lips touched his, her mind exploded with memories, both his and hers, from the day they had met till this very moment, till exhausted, and overwhelmed from taking in an considerable amount of memories in a small space of time, she and the ground met on rather intimate terms.

'Alexis? You okay Private?' Hasslebarry asked, as the blonde attempted to pick herself off the unforgiving ground and tried to look a bit more dignified than her prior position had enabled her to. After all, she was the Queen of Obelisk Blue, and knew when to shield her emotions when she had to, for herself as well as for those around her. He offered a hand to her, which she graciously accepted, and stood. A steady beeping reached her ears, originating from the Electrocardiogram, alerting her to the fact that Jaden's heart was beating once more.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she allowed the mask she had built around herself to deny reality slip; there was no need to deny the death of someone that meant the world to her, if they survived the ordeal. The undeniable proof was right in front of her. Knelling over Jaden's still form once more, her face hovering above his own, she placed two of her fingers on the Slifer's jugular vein, and felt for a pulse. She could feel it, slowly but steadily, the beating of life pounded in his ribcage. He was alive.

'I'm fine,' she said, slightly breathless, her mind reeling over the occurrence of the past few minutes. Or had it been more? She couldn't really be sure. She turned back to Hasslebarry, and caught sight of Aster leaning against the wall behind him. 'So what brings you two here?'

'Well,' Aster replied. 'Long story short, we were looking for some sign of life in this place after half the class disappeared during our duelling prac double. We heard a long drawn-out beeping, and then a thump, and run in here to find Jaden under God knows how many blankets and hot-water bottles and hooked up to an Electrocardiogram which is now beeping normally, and you on the floor. So why is Jaden in the infirmary anyway? And was there a glitch in the monitor, or did his heart really stop beating?'

'It really stopped,' Alexis replied soberly. 'We, meaning Chazz, Atticus, Syrus and I, found him on the beach unconscious. We brought him to Ms Fontaine, who said his core body temperature had fallen below the norm, and was dangerously close to causing brain death. We tried to find out what was going on, and the only one who could give us any answers was Yubel.'

Aster and Hasslebarry exchanged glances at the mention of Yubel's name. Hasslebarry made to open his mouth, but Aster silenced him with a shake of his head. It was an indication of the initial shock that Hasslebarry did not argue as he normally would have, instead allowing Alexis to continue.

'Chazz was talking to Winged Kuriboh to find out whether he knew anything, and he said the only one who could answer that was Yubel. Understandably, that raised some sore spots, and we were all pretty tense, and Chazz said something stupid that pushed us over our lines. Atticus wound up knocking him out with his ukulele, but then we realised that we had no way to communicate with Yubel, or Winged Kuriboh, till Atticus suggested using Nightshroud to create a Shadow Game. Yubel showed us her past, and told us that the darkness seems to be responsible for Jaden's condition. She also mentioned a prophecy.'

She quickly recounted the details of the prophecy, as well as what Yubel had shown the two there. 'We continued the duel, Nightshroud and I, till I eventually won with Benten's effect, and Atticus disappeared.' Her voice was flat, emotionless as she said that. It was as if she was too drained mentally to muster up the right emotions.

'So where's Princeton now?' Hasslebarry asked, breaking the suffocating silence that was building up.

'Well, we sorta left him over there.' Alexis pointed between two infirmary beds, at an empty chair. 'Well,' she amended. 'He was there. Maybe he left.'

'Maybe,' Aster said, somewhat doubtfully. _I hope he didn't disappear like the others.

* * *

_

**(with Chazz back at his dorm room)**

'I was so stupid. Stupid. Stupid.' Chazz banged his head against his desk at each word. 'Why did I say something so stupid like that. 'S'not like it was true.'

_FLASHBACK_

'_He ran into that portal knowing he wouldn't let him go alone. Then he starts wallowing in self pity while his alter ego killed thousands of duellists, including two of his own friends. How do we know if we can trust him anymore? He's like a completely different person.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

He then glared at the rejection letters littering his desk. He detested rejection, but just couldn't seem to bring himself to throw them away.

As if reading his mind, Ojama Yellow appeared beside him. 'Boss? Why are you collecting all these rejection notifications? Are you trying to be funny?' Ojama Yellow's sense of humour was however, unfortunately untimed, as evident by Chazz's response.

'Aargh,' he screamed, shoving the letters in question off his desk, causing them to scatter and litter the floor beneath him. Then more quietly, he said to himself, 'is my dream so hard to acquire?'

Unfortunately, he failed to notice the transparency of his own body.

Funnily enough, Ojama Yellow had failed to notice as well. 'But if you want to become a Professional Duellist so much, why not just ask your brothers to sponsor you?'

'Because,' he replied softly, so unlike his usual tone, 'I have to be able to do this myself. Then I can prove to my brothers that I am worthy of my name. Of my family.'

Ojama Yellow was silent for a while. Eventually, he replied. 'If that is your dream, then I'll stay by you all the way.'

'And us too!' The unexpected appearance of his two other spirits, Ojama Green and Ojama Black, resulted in Chazz lying on the floor along with the letters he had been staring at previously.

_But am I really good enough to be a Pro? Am I even worthy?_

'Chazz?' His spirits had finally noticed his dilemma.

* * *

**(with Dr Crowler just outside Chazz's dorm room)**

'Mr Princeton,' he said quietly, listening to one of his most gifted students through the door. 'I had no idea your desire was so great. I'll help you acquire your dream.' He smiled suddenly. He was finally showing his sentimental side. _Looks like I learnt a lot from those slackers, especially Jaden._ 'After all, you are my precious students.'

* * *

**(with Syrus on the way to the Western Port)**

He ran as fast as he could towards the Western Port, brimming with excitement at the prospect of seeing his elder brother safe and sound. 'Jaden's going to be so excited. They can finally have a proper rematch.' He was so happy that he had temporarily forgotten that Jaden was, in fact, in a coma and not really capable of fulfilling either of the two criteria's listed above.

Unfortunately, remembrance isn't quite as pretty. Although he didn't have much time to dwell on it as the docks came into view, as well as a certain black clothed figure that had been the cause of his euphoria.

'Zane!'

* * *

**(with Chancellor Sheppard at an unknown location)**

On a very small island on the ocean, a DA marked helicopter fell from the sky, crashing into the ground below. The pilot crawled out of the wreckage weakly, blood flowing from hidden wounds.

'Report status,' a voice could be heard over the communications system, albeit slightly unstable.

'We crash landed on a small island to Duel Academy's west,' the pilot replied into the device, after extracting it from his pocket.

'You okay?'

'Just sustained some minor injuries.'

'And the Chancellor.'

The pilot opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by a scream. Turning slightly and painfully towards the sound, the pilot saw Chancellor Sheppard collapse on the ground, his life points at zero, as his Cyber Ogre was attacked and destroyed.

'Beating you isn't such a big deal,' his opponent shrugged, flicking his wild black hair out of his line of sight. 'After all, you're just the former master of the Cyber Style.'

'Cyber Style,' Chancellor Sheppard breathed. 'You knew all along?'

'Of course,' the other replied. 'My name is Makoto Inotsume, master of the Psycho Style.'

'A rival school to the Cyber Style?'

'Precisely. But in order to obtain true victory, I must defeat the real successor, Zane Truesdale.'

'Zane? But he...'

'Ha. Although his whereabouts are still unclear, he is still alive, isn't he? And he will be my next opponent.'

* * *

'_Ha. Although his whereabouts are still unclear, he is still alive, isn't he? And he will be my next opponent.'_

Zane opened his eyes upon hearing the challenge, but instead of a challenger, he found himself staring into the grey eyes of his little brother.

'You okay big bro?' Syrus asked worriedly, as Ms Fontaine knelt beside him, as trained personnel attempted to coax his injured body onto a stretcher.

'We had better get you to the infirmary,' she said, standing again.

'But he'll be fine,' Syrus asked. 'Won't he?'

'In time, yes he will.'

* * *

It took a while for everybody to be brought up to speed, but a few hours later, everybody in the infirmary, except Zane who was asleep on the infirmary bed beside Jaden's, and the Slifer himself, was well aware of the situation as it stood.

Syrus, Alexis, Aster and Hasselbarry now remained in the infirmary awake. The four had sat and discussed the prophecy for hours, yet weren't much closer to figuring it out than when they had started. But still, four minds were better than one, right?

Alexis rubbed her eyes tiredly before staring once again at Jaden's prone form. She sighed, wishing he would get better. On the bed beside him, Alexis could just see Zane's sleeping form.

'Maybe you should go to bed Alexis,' Syrus suggested. 'You look like you're going to fall asleep on your feet.' It was true enough. Her fair skin was slightly paler than normal, and her eyelids were drooping.

She was about to protest, when Aster interrupted. 'Go to bed. You won't be able to help anyone if you're tired.'

Her gaze drifted to the prone Slifer once more. 'We'll keep an eye on the Sarge,' Hasslebarry said, following her gaze.

She smiled tiredly. 'Thanks guys,' she said, standing and heading for her dormitory.

* * *

As soon as she reached her dorm room, she kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the bed. Too tired to even pull of her uniform, she was asleep before her head touched the pillow.

* * *

**(in Alexis' Realm of Conscience/The Dreamtrails)**

**(Alexis' POV)**

I opened my eyes, seeing nothing but black around me, feeling nothing but sadness and anguish and sorrow.

_I shivered involuntarily. This place…it was so…dark._

_ 'The fire has burnt out. You must enkindle it.'_

_ 'Enkindle?' I repeated, looking around for the voice. _

_ 'You must light this darkness through.'_

_I spun around on my heels, trying vainly to locate the source of this voice. 'Wha..? Who are you..? Where are you? And where am I?'_

_ 'Patience my Queen,' the voice replied. 'Everything will become clear in time. And this place…these are the Dreamtrails.'_


	9. The Past Revealed

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

Hey everyone. I finally got around to writing a full-on plan for this story, so now I know exactly what's left. Now, chapter wise, this chapter is the half-mark, however, every chapter remaining after this one (excluding the epilogue which is included in the chapter countdown) contain duelling, which tends to get long-winded, especially since My Little Brother duels with Elemental Heroes and Neo Spacians (it's just a nick-name since everyone confuses us as school. Truth is, I'm an only child) so story wise the story is reaching its resolution. And hopefully I will be updated as regularly as possible till its completion.

Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me so far, and I hope you call all stick with me till the end.

**Chapters Remaining after this: 9**

**Disclaimer: **I think you all can tell by now what I own and what I don't.

* * *

**9 - Chapter 8: The Past Revealed**

**(Alexis' POV)**

_I opened my eyes, seeing nothing but black around me, feeling nothing but sadness and anguish and sorrow._

_I shivered involuntarily. This place...it was so...dark._

_ 'The fire has burnt out. You must enkindle it.'_

_ 'Enkindle?' I repeated, looking around for the voice._

_ 'You must light this darkness through.'_

_I spun around on my heels, trying vainly to locate the source of this voice. 'Who..? Who are you..? And where are you? And where am I?'_

_ 'Patience my Queen,' the voice replied. 'Everything will become clear in time. And this place...these are the Dreamtrails.'_

_I was confused, to say the least. 'Queen? Dreamtrails?'_

_Soft laughter echoed. 'Watch and see...'_

_And suddenly, it wasn't black anymore.

* * *

_

_ 'Um...what's happening?'_

_ 'A transit.'_

_ 'Transit?'_

_ 'The Dreamtrails are paths formed by dreams and memories, intertwining and converging at a singular heart. You, my Queen, have entered the path that will lead you to the Haou. This is simply a stepping stone along the way.'_

_ 'The Supreme King? Or Jaden?'_

_ 'They are one and the same after all.'_

_ 'So this is the only way to save him?'_

_ 'Yes. And to learn the truth.' A pause. 'Transit complete.'

* * *

_

_Suddenly, I was surrounded by people, chatting excitedly to one another, passing around and even through me without notice. It was odd to say the least, and quite unsettling; it was as though in reality I wasn't really there. _

_I sighed. _Just another question to add to my ever-growing list,_ I thought, moving effortlessly through the crowd, wondering all the while the significance of this place._

_Jaden's dreams...or his memories?_

_I heard a couple nearby mention a festival of some sort, but lost the speakers in the ever growing crowd. It didn't last though, as after a few minutes, the once busy streets were empty; the people gone off in the general direction of the rising sun._

_I wondered if I should follow them, but decided against it. More than likely, I would lose my way so far behind, so the more sensible option would be to wait for someone else to come._

_Fortunately, a girl a few years younger than me appears soon after, a white travelling cloak covering her, although she seemed to be lost, stopping in the middle of the street and trying to make sense of her surroundings._

_ 'Are you lost?' a voice asked cheerfully, causing the young girl to whip around, cloak billowing around her, revealing a beautiful pale pink gown, and me to follow suit. A young boy the same age as the girl stood there, dressed in a black suit, red shirt under it, but otherwise looking like a younger version of Jaden._

_ 'Erm..yes. I told my parents I would meet them at the festival, yet I cannot find my way,' the girl said. Something about the familiarity of her voice made me wonder who she was. Unfortunately, her cloak was still concealing her face from view._

_ 'Don't worry,' the brunette said, grabbing the others hand. 'I'll take you there.'_

_ 'Hey,' the other gasped as the brunette pulled her down a side street. 'Who are you anyway?'_

_ 'I'm Jaden Yuki,' he replied._

His past life in the dark world then?

_ 'The Crown Prince?'_

_ 'Yea...but just call me Jaden. I'm not one for formalities.'_

_The girl giggled. 'I think I'm going to like you Jaden...'_

_And everything faded out again.

* * *

_

'_Another transit?'_

'_Yes. Any other questions you want to ask? Transit is the best time for me to answer.'_

'_Why wasn't I tangible or even visible? It was like I wasn't even there!'_

'_Memories cannot be changed. Therefore you have no means to alter the course of events. Dreams on the other hand, can, and sometimes should be altered.'_

'_Uh, okay. Who are you?'_

'_I am an embodiment of these dreamtrails, a Messenger of sorts. I have been subconsciously created to guide you through; else you would wander lost forever. Yet there is only so much I can do to help you. The rest you must do yourself.'_

'_Enter the Dreams and understand what is meant...So this is a part of the prophecy.'_

'_Yes, and it is nearing its completion. Transit complete.'

* * *

_

_This time, I found myself at the festival I had seen from a distance earlier. I couldn't see Jaden around anywhere, nor the other girl who hadn't mentioned her name, although I had my suspicions about her identity._

_So I took the time to recall the prophecy. After I understood these dreams...or memories, only four lines of the prophecy will remain. The last four._

_Light the everlasting darkness through,_

_Open your hearts and heed this clue._

_Vacate the heart of guilt and sorrow,_

_Endure and take the step tomorrow._

_That last line bothered me for some reason. I couldn't place my finger on the reason though. But I didn't have time to dwell on it though, as I caught sight of the young prince, talking to an older couple that I assumed to be his parents. The king looked just as he had in Yubel's memories, tall, handsome, confident..._

_The lady on his arm, the Queen I presume, was every bit as beautiful as the rest of her family. Soft brown locks fell past her shoulders, her crown perched upon her head. Like the others here, which I assumed to be the festival, she was dressed elegantly, in a red gown adorned with gold._

_I moved closer, heading for the three, and was only mildly surprised to find someone else walking towards them as well. Not having a physical presence, I didn't attract any attraction, but the other, the cloaked girl from earlier, made quite a stir, causing Jaden to turn his head in our direction to find the source of the commotion._

_He waved her over, and I followed a little ways behind. So as a result, I missed the first part of the conversation. But I heard the king's words clear as day._

_ 'I see you've met you're fiancé Jay.'_

_ 'Fiancé?'

* * *

_

_ 'How many transits will I have to go through?'_

_ 'As many as necessary.'_

_ 'Necessary? For what?'_

_ 'So you can understand...'_

_ 'Understand what?'_

_ '...transit complete.'

* * *

_

_ 'Hey!' I exclaimed, suddenly finding myself standing in the middle of a graveyard of all places. Naturally, I was confused, which suddenly cleared up upon noticing the tomb in front of which I stood. Or rather, the picture on it, as the other details were unfamiliar. _

_The king, Jaden's father, looking older and more battle worn than I had seen him last, smiled up at me from his portrait resting upon the grave, flowers, mainly white roses, nestled around the frame. The inscription on the grave was in a language I could not understand, but the message was clear. Beside the grave was another, slightly older but otherwise similar in appearance, the only other difference being the photo, one of the queen._

_I heard footsteps behind me, and turned, resisting the reflexive urge to hide due to the fact that I would not be visible to whoever it was...unless it was a dream._

_It wasn't, as Jaden passed through me as though I was not there, knelling beside his parents' graves to lay a bouquet of roses upon the stone. I caught sight of a familiar crown upon his head, the same crown that his father had previously worn._

_Peering into his face, I could already see the smile I had come to cherish fading, a stern, hard look replacing it. His features were as gentle as ever, yet now held a much more serious air. He was no longer a cheerful young boy. Now, he was the King. And with such power came a large responsibility.

* * *

_

_ 'And so it began.'_

_ 'With his parents' death?'_

_ 'Yes. It is hard for a fifteen year old to lose both parents at such a young age. And being the only heir to a kingdom on the brink of war only made it that much harder. He was far too young, yet he did his duty, becoming one of the fairest and most just Kings the land had ever seen. But due to his duties, and the responsibility that came with his descent to the throne, he began to lose his identity. Only you my Queen, and __Yubel__, ever saw the true Haou.'_

_ 'Haou?'_

_ 'It is a title. Supreme King.'_

_ 'So they really are one and the same. Haou and Jaden I mean.'_

_ 'Yes.'_

_ 'But the Dark World?'_

_ 'Patience my Queen. In due time...Transit complete.'

* * *

_

_This time, I was standing in a battlefield, and I could tell many years had passed. It was as though I had lived those years, able to recall the most significant events in that duration. Come to think of it, technically I had. Lived in that time, I mean. Perhaps I was regaining my memories of the past..._

_And now, I was seeing Jaden's..._

_The land looked as though a war had been waged and won upon it, yet like all wars, at its price. Drying blood stained the once green land a reddish-brown, the spoils of war scattered around._

_Jaden was there, now nearing official adulthood at twenty-one, staring alone into the distance. The last few years had been hectic, and hard on him; finally gaining an opportunity to reminisce, he seized it with both hands. Dead bodies, both of his army and that of the enemy's, lay scattered about, but people were already at work at clearing the battlefield, healers at work healing the wounded and carrying them off to the healing place._

_The danger had passed now, and the land would soon fall back into its peaceful ways. Or it should, but it was not to be. I knew what was coming, as __Yubel__ had already told me, but those of that time were woefully ignorant, and thus in impending danger._

_I could see my past self watching for a lookout tower, out of harm's way of the previous battle, __Yubel__ was there as well, temporarily leaving bodyguard position to deliver the news of victory to my past self in a not-so-civil manner. Understandable, as jealousy is known to spurn fairness, especially with marital dealings._

_But that's really beside the point. Turning back to Jaden, I found him in the same position as before, staring out into the horizon with an almost blank look on his face. I could see the smallest trails of black creeping around him, but it went unnoticed by any onlookers, or by him for that matter._

_Suddenly, a hand between the two of us moved. I cried out, quite forgetting in the heat of the moment my lack of tangibility and visibility, only remembering when it had no effect. It was too late then anyhow, as during the moment everyone's guards were down, a follower of the light (quite obvious by the appearance of the armour not covered in blood) swiftly snatched a spear from the ground and thrust it deep into the king's body._

_The archers fired from above, but it was too late. Already, his life force was spilling into a bloody pool of justice around him. He sank to his knees, spear perforating his body, his eyes already taking on a glassy state, as the darkness around him grew ever stronger, unnoticed as his final breath escaped him...

* * *

_

_ 'That's it?'_

_ 'Yes. Since the darkness was in contact with him during the moment his spirit cut ties with his body, it fused into his personality, resulting in the split you see in your own world.'_

_ 'And his grief of his parents' deaths, his loneliness, his guilt in thinking he could have done more to prevent all the hardships that occurred...they all lead up to the darkness finding him. And now, it has found him again.'_

_ 'Yes, but this time there is a chance to save him. I leave the fate of the king to you, my Queen. You will know me in a different form when we next meet...'_

_And the darkness faded.

* * *

_

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

Alexis stirred awake, opening her eyes blurrily to take in the darkness of her dorm room. Groaning, she made to move out of bed, stretching to loosen her tight muscles, and rubbing the sleep from her eyes once she stood. Her uniform was crumpled from sleeping in it, and her hair was sticking up in odd places, which she immediately attacked with a comb.

Once she had finished combing her hair, she replaced the comb onto her dressing table, catching sight of the digital clock that rested beside it.

12:57 AM.

And outside, she could hear the wind howling.


	10. Heart of the Battle

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

Hello again everyone. And I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has stuck by me and read this story up to this point. When I first started writing this, I never imagined so many people would read this; hits reach somewhere between 900 and 1100 a month. So thanks to all of you.

This chapter follows parts from episode 163 – Challenge from Psycho Shocker, so if you've seen the subbed version of season four, parts may be familiar. I've also skipped some parts of the duel, if you want the full version, it basically follows canon so you can either watched it on Youtube or read the summaries of . The duel itself does not deviate from canon, although other stuff to some extent do.

Regarding the poll, it looks like either **Shrouded by Darkness** (10) or **Don't Look into my Eyes** (9) is going to win. You still have an opportunity to vote for what fic you would like to see after **The Dreamwalker** is finished, and if you don't have an account and still wish to vote, you can just leave a review or message or something and I'll take that into account.

So please, read and review... and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

**Chapters Remaining after This: **8

**Disclaimer: **Check previous chapters. Oh, and this chapter follows canon for the most part, with a few tweaks in the dialogue amongst other things. The duel is the same though, so I obviously don't own that.

* * *

Normal

_Flashback/Thoughts_

_Flashback in flashback_ (you'll see)

Thoughts in flashback

_**Note

* * *

**_

**10 - Chapter 9: Heart of the Battle**

It was a bright sunny day. Which, Syrus thought, wasn't very representative of the current situation. Sure, his brother was safe, but issues regarding his health still needed to be sorted out. Major problems. That, and all the disappearances that had occurred at the Academy, as well as the condition of his best friend, really put a damper on what could have otherwise been a cheery atmosphere. One that was not reflected by Mother Nature at all.

He sighed as he watched his brother on the observation deck, seated on a wheelchair, dressed in navy blue pyjamas with a lighter blue blanket covering his legs from the morning chill.

The elder brother was gazing out into the sea, the crystalline blue of the ocean waters reflecting in his navy blue eyes, reminiscing about his last duel, the match between him and Yubel (through Jesse) in the Dark World, prior to his "death", or "turning into stardust" as Aster so kindly puts it.

_FLASHBACK_

_He stood tall, despite the fact his time was fast approaching. With only in his hand, and his three __Cyber Dragons__ on his field no match for the __Rainbow Dark Dragon__ on Yubel's, Zane clearly had the disadvantage. But the defining aspect of the Duel Monsters Card Game, could once again, change it all. Chance._

_He drew a card from his deck. His final card; they all knew it. Barely glancing at it, he knew what it was. 'I play the spell __Power Bond__!' he declared, with a passion rarely expressed._

_Yubel's (or rather Jesse's) eyes widened in shock. 'What does that do?'_

_He smirked in reply. _More than you'll ever know, _he thought, thinking about that memorable graduation duel with Jaden._

_'I'll play this face down and call it a turn,' Jaden said, sliding his one card into his spell and trap card zone. 'Come Zane, enough with your normal fusion. Let's bring an end to this battle of fusions-bring forth Power Bond.'_

_Zane smiled at the passion and heart his opponent displayed. He had searched for years for such a challange. 'As you wish Jaden. I'll show it to you now, my perfection!'_

_He drew his card; the final card, they both knew. 'First off,' he placed the drawn card into his spell and trap card zone. 'I'll activate the magic of Power Bond.'_

_'And fuse what?,' Chazz wandered. 'You've got to have monsters to sacrifice them.'_

_'Chazz is right for once,' Bastion agreed. 'His field is bare.'_

_Zane heard the comments, and smirked in reply, selecting another card from his hand and sliding it into his duel disk. 'I forgot to mention, I don't need monsters.'_

_Jaden simply smiled, waiting for his next move. 'I activate Cybernetic Fusion Support,' Zane continued. 'By sacrificing half my lifepoints, I can select fusion material from my grave, and remove it from play, then summon its fusion form to the field with no extra requirements. So I call forth Cyber End Dragon!'_

_'Ya know,' Jaden muttered, as the majestic metal dragon appeared once more. 'I'm starting to really get sick of that thing.'_

_'And when a monster is summoned to the field by a Power Bond, its attack points are automatically doubled. And with Limiter Removal, Cyber End Dragons will further double.'_

_'16000?'_

_'It's over Jaden. Cyber End Dragon, attack!'_

_'Not so fast,' Jaden interrupted, revealing one of his face downs. 'Go Battle Fusion. When used during a battle, my monster gains as many attack points as triple chrome-dome over there.'_

_Zane shook his head. 'Timing is everything. From my hand, I play Battle Fusion.'_

_'What?'_

_The two monsters faced off, Cyber End Dragon with the added advantage of 20900 extra attack points._

_Jaden grinned. 'You really are great Zane. Perfect.'_

_'But at the same time, that is my limitation. "Perfect"...that means I've reached my limits. But you Jaden Yuki, have infinite potential!'_

_'Thank you. Hearing those words from someone like you...let me give you a duel to remember, because it's not over yet.'_

_Zane let surprise show upon his face, as Jaden revealed his trump card. His final face down. Final Fusion._

_'How clever,' he said eventually, satisfied._

Power Bond, the card that once marked my limitations. But I have come far beyond that. _'I fuse my three __Cyber Dragons__ together, and summon __Cyber End Dragon__!'_

_Yubel__ stared in awe, and slight fear. 'That beast has so much power!'_

Yes Jesse, _he thought. _No-one is walking away from this duel. If I'm going down, I'm taking with me whatever evil spirit is controlling you.

_'This duel is over __Yubel__,' he declared out loud. 'A new dawn is rising.'_

_Yubel__ scowled. 'Not quite yet,' she said, in her own voice rather than Jesse's. 'Killing me will destroy your friend.'_

_Zane however, simply shook his head. 'Don't play games with me. __Cyber End Dragon__, finish her!'_

_ 'Not so fast,' __Yubel__ called, switching back into Jesse's voice. 'Go __Counter Gem__. I can place up to five Crystal Beasts from my graveyard into my spell and trap card zone. And by sending them back to my graveyard, my Dragon gains a thousand more attack points.'_

_Rainbow Dark Dragon's__ attacks rouse to 10,000, towering over the machine dragon. 'What do you intend to do now Zane?' __Yubel__ taunted. 'You're dragon's outmatched. You can't defeat me no matter what you try to do.'_

_ 'Perhaps,' he agreed. 'But at least I'm going down on my own terms.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

But even that hadn't been enough. But if his best wasn't good enough, if perfection was defeated...what was left except to try and overcome those limitations and become stronger. But his deck refused to be mastered by him...refused to bend to his will.

'Brother?' Syrus asked, coming up behind him. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' Zane replied, as the younger Truesdale taking a hold on the other's wheelchair, wheeling him back indoors. 'So tell me what's been happening since I left this place.'

* * *

'Hmm...I see,' Zane mused, once Syrus had finished his tale. It had taken many hours, and the two were now back in the infirmary with Nurse Fontaine and the comatose Jaden. It was past three, the two having stopped for lunch earlier. Syrus had finally explained everything that had happened to the Academy, and to them, since his graduation nearly two years previously.

And now the topic of what they were going to do with the rest of their lives came up, with graduation fast approaching.

'Time has passed so quickly,' Syrus mused. 'It doesn't seem all too long ago when I watched you graduate. Soon, I'll be following in your footsteps...'

He trailed off, silence filling the air between them momentarily, before he picked up the conversation slack once more. 'You know, everyone's come so far since that first day. Jaden, you...'

'And what about you?' Zane questioned.

Syrus turned away and remained silent. 'Don't you think it is time to take control of your own destiny?' he pressed. 'To stop watching over Jaden from the shadows and enter the fore line?...You know, I envy you.'

'What? Why?'

Zane simply smiled, letting the conversation drop once again. The two continued to sit quietly in relative silence, the regular beeping from the monitoring machines and Ms Fontaine's typing being the only audible sounds, and even those, barely so.

Until the phone rang.

* * *

Night had fallen once again. Zane stood, his back to the window of his temporary quarters, a note in his hand. One that had been slipped under the crack of the door only minutes before.

_**Tonight, at 12AM. I will be waiting at the beach.**_

It was short, and unsigned, but Zane knew who it was from. Makato Inotsume, the current master of the Psycho Style. The phone call from the Chancellor that very afternoon had already tipped him off about the psycho duellist's intentions. And he was more than willing to accept the challenge, despite protests from his health, chancellor, nurse and brother.

But none of that was going to deter him. He set the note down on the bedside table, and strapped his duel disk to his arm. Inserting his deck into the card holder and flicking off the lights, he walked out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind him.

* * *

'So, you've come.'

'Of course.'

'The master of the Cyber Style. I must congratulate you for that. A powerful dojo indeed. But only one will prevail. Today will be the last night for the Cyber Style. From this duel onwards, the Psycho Style will rise up above the Cyber Style.'

'You're eager.'

'Quite. Lets duel.'

'Lets.'

'DUEL.'

* * *

**(Meanwhile...)**

'Zane?' Syrus knocked on the door of his brother's temporary quarters, one of the available rooms in the Obelisk Blue dorms. 'Are you in there?'

He frowned. It was just past twelve, so there was the possibility that Zane was asleep, however growing worry in the pit of his stomach said otherwise, prompting him to leave his own dorm room to check up on his older brother.

He tried calling for his brother again, and once again received no response. _I'm just being paranoid,_ he thought. _'I'll just check the door.'_

He placed a hand on the knob and turned, starting in surprise when it actually turned. 'It's unlocked?'

He opened the door fully, only to find his brother not in his room. However, something else caught his eye. A slightly crumpled, handwritten note lying on the desk.

_**Tonight, at 12AM. I will be waiting at the beach.**_

He checked the clock. 12:17AM.

'Oh shit.'

* * *

By the time Syrus located his brother on the beach, the duel was well in progress; in fact, it seemed to be nearing its conclusion, with Psychic Wave active on the opponent's (who the younger Truesdale could only assume to be Makato Inotsume) field, about to knock off another 600 life points off his brother's score. Sure, his life points could survive the hit, as he was currently on 2600, but as to his health...

Already, his face was flushed, his heart racing at a painful rate. His pride was the only thing propelling him; even his deck fought against him, wanting to grow under a will which was not his own. But he couldn't quit. Not now.

'I activate Fusion Guard,' he gasped out, activating one of his two remaining face-downs. 'With this, I randomly select a monster from my Fusion Deck and send it to the graveyard in order to reduce your damage to 0.'

Holograms of six monsters appeared before the teal-haired man: Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Dark Dragon, Five God Dragon, Chimeratech Over Dragon, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon and Cyber Twin Dragon. Cyber End Dragon disappeared in a flash soon after, reappearing in his graveyard and shielding his current master from damage.

Scowling from another chance lost, Makato Inotsume simply ends his turn with a face-down card. Barely able to stand, Zane looks at his remaining face down card. Samsara Dogma. The key to counteract Inotsume's DNA-Erasure Sorcery's effect. If only he had the strength to play it.

'It's over Truesdale,' Inotsome voiced, and it seemed as though another voice overlapped that of the Psycho Master's. 'Your persistence is useless. You cannot outlast this duel. Simply surrender.'

'I won't,' the addressed gasped, sinking to his knees as he made to draw a card. 'As long as it is the will of my deck, I will continue to fight.'

'Useless,' the other spat. 'You cannot master that deck.'

_He is right,_ Zane thought, despite himself, as he felt his conscience slipping. _That deck surpasses my limitations. I cannot conquer it. I cannot overcome my limitations..._

The darkness overtook him; warm, comforting...a feeling of tranquility passing through him, numbing his pain and dulling his senses. The last thing he heard before slipping fully into that void was the voice of his younger brother.

'I will take over this duel. I won't let you prevail over the Cyber Style, or my dear brother...or even myself. I will beat you!'


	11. Master the Cyber Style

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?**_

**Chapters Remaining After This:** 7

**Disclaimer: **See previous chapter

* * *

**11 - Chapter 10: Master the Cyber Style**

Three days. Three days had passed since Makato Inotsume had challenged his brother. Three days since his brother had vanished into the darkness, and he took up the challenge himself. Three days since he had attempted to master the Cyber Underworld Deck, to no avail. Three days, since he had seen his friends.

And even the general population of the school seemed to be dwindling. Less and less people roamed the hall, and by afternoon of the third day, the Academy was as still and silent as death.

Except for his attempts to master the deck.

Under normal circumstances, he would have looked for them. But he couldn't...he had a promise to keep. A deck to master...and a duel to win.

And then, he could search for some answers.

He stood in a clearing, duel disk armed, and deck inserted. Drawing a card, he glances at it, seeing Cyber Dark Horn. Another draw. Photon Generator Unit.

_This isn't working,_ he thought furiously. _This deck won't respond to me at all._

The cards suddenly slipped from his grasp and pain flared in his chest. Clutching his chest, he stumbled back slightly, small tremors racking his small frame, and breathing heavily as the pain ceased as suddenly as it came.

He stared at the deck, before removing it from the duel disk. It felt as though a terrible burden had been removed from his heart.

_So then...it wasn't the underground duelling that brought on Zane's condition...but this deck. It doesn't care for normal limits._

_But then, this deck won't obey me. I am not its master. I am not my brother. But perhaps..._

He remembered the lessons that Jaden had taught him. Every person is unique, and so is their deck. A deck full of memories, experience and strategies that no other could ever hope to replicate.

He remembered Dmitri, and the lesson Jaden had taught him with his duel. And Zane had translated.

_FLASHBACK_

'_Putting your attempt and your time to create your deck, you are able to believe in the deck from the bottom of your heart. That belief in the spirit of duellist influences the victory and defeat in such battles.'_

_END FLASHBACK_

And perhaps, like him, the deck too wishes to expand and go beyond the limitations. Wishes for that belief and effort to be able to expand like him.

Smiling slightly, he spread the cards on the ground below him, feeling their call, their desire to progress...to achieve the best.

He set to work. He had a lot to do before the day ended and the night began.

* * *

At sunset, Makato Inotsume stood on the beach waiting for him, his form framed by the setting sun.

'You've been training hard in order to pay your brother's debt,' he says, almost conversationally.

'Of course,' he replied, a hardcore determination present in his grey eyes. 'I won't forgive myself for a defeat.'

'As the younger brother of the great Zane Truesdale, I expect some talent, but do you really believe a child like you can defeat me.'

'Of course. Because my deck believes in me, and I believe in me too. And I know that my friends, if they were here, they'd believe in me too. Heck, they believe even when they're not here. And our friendship is a bond that you will never break, nor will anyone else.'

'Well, shall we put that theory to the test then.'

'Lets.'

'DUEL!'

* * *

_Destiny sure has a weird sense of humour, _Syrus decided, finding himself in essentially the same situation as his brother moments later. Only, his brother had been unable to continue.

DNA-Erasure Surgery was in play on Psycho Duellist's field, and Samsara Dogma was face down on Syrus'. He was sure that his brother had planned to use it to reverse the game, but had not been provided with ample time.

But now the opportunity had come to him, and he could surpass his brother's duel. He would beat this predicament, because he was using this duel to surpass his limitations, going beyond his fear of failure and journeying the road to success.

At last, he understood why his brother had envied him.

He opens his trap card. Samsara Dogma. His brother's one-way ticket out of this mess.

Only, Makato Inotsume was well prepared.

* * *

Well into the duel, Syrus found himself well and truly cornered. His final line of defence, Kiteroid's special ability, had been used to save himself from Android-Psycho Lord's attack, leaving his life points wide open for a hit from Drillago.

Makato Inotsume: 4000

Syrus Truesdale: 500

Not only that, Makato Inotsume had Trap Request active on his field. A permanent spell which would allow him to fully utilize his Android's ability. At every standby phase, the Psycho Duellist can now select a trap from Syrus' deck and play it face down in his spell and trap card zone. The card cannot be activated, and Android's special ability will allow him to destroy the set card, dealing 1000 points of direct damage and ending the duel.

Makato laughed. 'Worthless,' he scorned. 'You've already lost. From the beginning, I knew you would fall. You're shaming your _dear_ brother.'

But there was still one draw left.

'You're wrong,' Syrus countered, anger lacing his voice. 'You don't understand. This duel is not only for my brother, but for me, my friends, this deck which I built and evolved with my own cards as well as those from the Cyber Legacy and which I can now truly call my own...this duel is for much more than you can possibly understand. And it's not over.'

He drew his final card and stared at it. Dragonoid.

He smiled. A duel to surpass his brother's limitations.

_Zane,_ he thought. _I understand. And I hope you're proud of me._

'Well,' Makato demanded, seeing Syrus smile at his drawn card.

He revealed the card.

'Send it to the graveyard. Dragonoid has 2900 attack points. 1400 more than what Deck Destruction Virus allows.'

'It doesn't matter,' Syrus responded. 'This deck has responded to my desire.'

'What?'

'I activate Timb Bomb. With its effect, I remove five cards from the top of my deck from play, and for each monster present, you take 300 points of damage.'

Syrus drew the top five cards, showing them to his opponent before putting them away.

'With three monsters, Cyber Dark Horn, Cyber Dark Kell and Cyber Dark Edge, you lose 900 points.'

Makato Inotsume : 3100

Syrus Truesdale: 500

'Lot of good that did.'

'It did more than you think. Next, I activate Spell Economics, which then allows me to play Dimension Fusion without the life point cost. And Dimension Fusion will bring back my dragons.'

'They can't stand up to Andoid-Psycho Lord.'

'Alone they can't, but their strength, like mine, comes from the collective. I play Power Bond.'

The three dark dragons merged with the power of fusion, Cyber Dark Dragon emerging from the depths of the fusion card.

'It is still no match for my Android, even with its boost from Power Bond.'

'But you forget its abilities. Its attack points can increase by the attack points of any Dragon Type monster in my graveyard.'

'DNA-Erasure surgery has already solved that problem. You have no Dragon Types in your graveyard thanks to it.

'And you're Deck Destruction Virus has provided me with a way out. Dragonoid's ability allows it to act as a dragon type monster in the graveyard. And because it is originally a machine, it is unaffected by your DNA-Erasure Surgery.'

Makato Inostume gritted his teeth. 'No.'

'And that's not his only ability. For each card in the graveyard, Cyber Dark Dragon gains an additional 100 attack points, giving it a grand total of 5800.'

Cyber Dark Dragon attacked immediately, knocking the Psycho Duellist out with its intense attack, and reducing his life points to 0.

Makato Inotsume: 0

Syrus Truesdale: 500

'An impressive win child.' a voice from the shadows congratulated him.

'Wha..?' he half turned in surprise, and as a result, missed the darkness erupting behind him, devouring the duellist on the losing end, leaving nothing behind. His attention was currently focused on the cloaked man in front of him. 'Who are you?'

The other didn't answer, but the temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees. Thin, almost claw-like hands emerged from the folding of his cloak, darkness swirling just below the skin, obvious to all.

And eerily familiar. 'You're the one responsible for all this,' he breathed. 'Jaden, the disappearances...' He turned back, gesturing at the spot Makato Inotsume had been lying, only to find him gone and further validating his claim.

'In a way,' he replied. 'I am simply following the master's orders.'

'And what does you're master want?'

'Revenge, on the Supreme King and his Queen...and to create a world where no pain exists But revenge comes first. The rest of the pieces will fall into place on their own.'

He slipped off his hood, revealing a masked face similar to Nightshroud, tendrils of darkness running along his face.

'The others, your friends, your classmates, the human population as a whole, they have already fallen, save the King and his little queen, and you.'

_They were all gone? Defeated by the darkness?_

'You, Syrus Truesdale, are the last piece of my Master's puzzle of revenge. Will you come willingly, or will you fight?'


	12. For My Friends

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

Here's the next chapter.

I just want to let you all know that I most likely will not be updating any of my stories again till after the twenty-first of May, which is when my Arabic IB exams are. I apologize for that, but schoolwork comes first, and it is the finals, though why Arabic is in May while every other subject is in November is always beyond me.

By the way, the 'kicking-and-screaming' line is courtesy of **the-writing-vampire**.

Regarding the poll, **Shrouded in Darkness** (11) is still leading.

Shukr al-laqum wa ilā l-liqā'(Thank you all and so long/until next time)

**Chapters Remaining after this:** 6

**Disclaimer: **See Previous Chapters

* * *

**12 - Chapter 11: For My Friends**

**(Syrus' POV)**

'You, Syrus Truesdale, are the last piece of my Master's puzzle of revenge. Will you come willingly, or will you fight?'

The other's words echoed in my ears. He was taunting me, challenging me. For my part, I chose simply not to answer as of yet, seeing the other still had more to say.

'I fail to see why you would,' he continued. 'There is no-one left to stand by you. No-one left to applaud your efforts. You say your strength comes from the collective.' He laughed in scorn. 'You are powerless now, since your friends aren't here to help you.'

'You're wrong,' I answered finally, my voice shaking but my resolve never wavering. 'Our bonds are a force you cannot break. Even when they are not here physically, they are in my heart. For them...my friends...I will fight you.'

The other smirked darkly. 'You know you cannot win.'

'I know,' I agreed, bowing my head slightly. 'But I know Jaden and Alexis will find a way to beat you. They need just a little more time. And I will give that to them.'

Eyes widened behind the mask at my outburst, or perhaps by conviction, before his lips twisted into a look of contempt. 'Are you so deluded as to believe that your red knight will always save the day?'

I shook my head, my sky blue bangs flying as the night wind picked up intensity. 'I am not the one that is deluded. They are still here, you said. And they will not up.'

'As you wish then. But your efforts will be in vain.'

'We shall see.'

'DUEL!'

* * *

**(Third Person POV)**

12.57 AM.

She could hear the wind howling outside, see the utter darkness through the open curtains. The stars had been covered, and by some twisted coincidence, on that night, there was no moon.

No source of light.

No hope.

But no, it was the beginning of a new day. Jaden was now the world's only hope, and she was his. It was his destiny, his birthright to destroy the evil that had caused him so much grief.

_But where was everybody?_

She picked up her duel disk and slid her deck into the allocated slot, before activating it and stepping out of her room, shutting the door behind her. The activated duel disk shed some light, enough to see that no-one had walked through the hallways in days. Layers of dust were beginning to pick up, and cobwebs decorated the ceilings and corners.

She frowned. It was far too late for her to be able to get into the hospital wing, or into any other dorm for that matter; the Obelisk Girls dorm was the only girls dorm on campus, and no student was allowed into the dorm of a member of the opposite sex at night, excluding of course the Slifer dorm, which was currently empty.

That only left her the lake, forest, the beach, the grounds and the school administrative building. Hopefully, she could find someone in one of the five areas, or at least some answers.

If not...then she would just have to break some rules.

* * *

'Well. Ready to give up?'

'No,' the bluenette managed to gasp out. He was on his hands and knees, field and hand empty, and down to the last hundred life points. His opponent on the other hand had more than half of his own, as well as Clear World, Clear Vice Dragon, and Attribute Chameleon on his field. Simply put, Syrus was in some deep trouble.

'Why do you continue to exist when you know it is futile?'

'It is not futile.'

'It is,' the other insisted. 'Why do you fight the inevitable. Why fight when in the end it will all be forgotten? You should know you cannot resist the darkness of your own heart?'

He paused at those words. They sounded somehow familiar; he distantly remembered his brother mentioning something about one of his friends after his first year...

'You knew my brother didn't you?' he asked softly. 'Who are you really?'

'Wouldn't you like to know?' the other smirked. 'But that shouldn't matter to you now. What matters now is you, and your friends content in the World of Darkness. They are where they desire themselves to be, but soon it will all be meaningless.'

'...why?'

'There is no winning or loss; no pain, no grief, no suffering...there is nothing, and with nothing I am content. I am already forgotten, it is the inevitability of passing time. I learnt it is futile to thrive for happiness...it doesn't exist. Only complete unity can eradicate this pain. All life will merge into a singular; all will share the same fate. It is the ultimate victory.'

He paused, watching the bluenette. 'Shall I show you?'

And without giving the other a chance to reply, black tendrils reached out and latched onto him.

* * *

The lake was clear. The forest was clear. The grounds were clear, and so was the school administrative building.

The beach, she was yet to check, and it was not visible from any of the four previously checked locations. Now, running on pure adrenaline (due to skipping at least 7 meals in her slumber), she raced to the shore, her duel disk shedding enough light to enable her to make her way without tripping over unseen obstacles.

There. In the distance. A red glimmer, almost identical to the light her duel disk shed. A duel.

She only hoped she wasn't too late.

* * *

**(Syrus' POV)**

_Darkness was consuming my field of vision, and despite the fact that my sight was heavily impaired due to the lack of light, I stared, entranced, at what little light that remained, illuminating the shadows to varying tones of grey._

_It was empty, devoid of any sort of emotion. It was alluring in a way, the promise of pain, no suffering...no emotion at all._

_But then there would be no happiness, no joy, no purpose for existence...but that thought immediately died upon surfacing._

_The others' were there. I could feel them, but they seemed so far away, as if the whole ad been split into its constituent parts._

_I frowned. It made sense; this darkness, it was smart, and strong as well. Praying off fears and insecurities of others...and who was there that had none to be preyed upon?_

_I could see them too, the last moments before they fell under the invisible tides of darkness._

_Blair, in love with someone who could never love her back, and even if he could, never would..._

_Chazz, unable to rely on his own flesh and blood in his aspirations, trying to progress to that new height on his own, but unable to..._

_Zane, held back by his limitations..._

_And the others, all held back by their fears and doubts..._

_And they had given up. Given in to the irresistible pull of darkness._

_ '...if I were to choose someone for him to spend the rest of his life with, I'd choose her in a heartbeat...'_

_ 'That deck surpasses my limitations. I cannot conquer it. I cannot overcome my limitations...'_

_I could see them. They were content. Despite the lack of emotion, they were tranquil._

_But it was wrong. I knew it. But I could feel myself slipping too._

_Just how much longer would it be before I fell as well._

The darkness suddenly faded, and I found myself in front of the cloaked stranger, Shadow Night. Suddenly, it didn't really seem to matter. He was right. It was inevitable.

Shadown Night smirked. 'So, ready to quit?'

I was. Looking back, I would call it cowardly, but at the time, the pull of darkness, of nothingness was so strong, too strong, inviting me to succumb to it.

Almost unconsciously, my hand crept up to my life point meter. One touch, that was all it would take to just give up...

'Syrus?'

_Alexis..._

No! I couldn't quit yet. Even if I was beaten, I couldn't just give up. They are still people willing to fight, and nothing is going to stop me from helping in my own way. By standing up.

Not even those black tendrils creeping up my legs.

I all but wrenched my hand away from my duel disk, just seconds before it would have come into contact.

'I won't give up! You'll have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me to turn my back on my best friends!'

The other frowned. 'So be it.'

It was over. But at least I had the satisfaction of knowing that I had gone done on my own terms.

And knowing there was still a fighting chance.


	13. See My Dream

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Chapters remaining after this:** 5

* * *

**13 - Chapter 12: See My Dream**

**(Jaden's POV)**

Time had passed. How much time, I did not know…it felt like eons, separated from all else…and throughout this time, this place had darkened considerably, as each of my anchors anchoring me to the light I had chosen to be my path was cut off.

I was alone…I had been alone for too long…but something or someone was still there. Someone…calling to me, keeping me from sinking my own head into the sea of black before me.

Someone…still fighting for me. Someone…who wasn't letting me give up.

Someone…who was causing the darkness to lesson slightly and retreat…and it was brightening. Very slightly, but it was.

…but who?

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

I tore my graze from the spot Syrus had just vanished from, instead fixating my hazel eyes upon the cloaked man a fair distance from me. I tried to summon a glare…but failed miserably. He was far too much like my brother…a pawn, being used by the darkness to achieve its own ends.

A mask covered the vast portion of his face, one so similar to Nightshroud's that I might have mistaken the two, had Nightshroud's card not rested safely in one of my inner pockets. The rest of him was hidden from plain view by the black cloak that billowed around him, one, thin, skeletal hand escaping from its confines.

We were silent, me and him. I was waiting for him and he for…well, I'm not really sure who he was waiting for, but he was waiting for someone, or something.

The sky above us was black, darkness covering all sources of light save the small red light emitting from my armed duel disk.

'Why?' I asked eventually, as the silence dragged on. 'Why did you choose the path of darkness?' I was asking him, yes…but I was asking others as well. All those who had fallen, all those who had despaired and lost…and over all else, the ones who were dear to me.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

'Why?' the voice echoed around me in the darkness, piercing through the haze that was slowly clouding my mind. 'Why did you choose the path of darkness?'

I hadn't…but I had. More than once.

Why…why had I chosen it then?

I knew why…I had given up.

Me, the one who others said gave hope to even those who were far gone, had despaired and chosen to run from my own weakness and problem, rather than face them head on.

And now I was stuck, stuck in webbing fashioned by the darkness of my past.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

His lips didn't move in reply, but I could hear his voice echoing in my head. My skin felt warmer suddenly, as though someone had switched on an internal body heater. I would have wandered where the heat was emitting from, but then I was too preoccupied with hearing the answer.

'_Bonds and thoughts, friends and families, to rely on those things...I will be forgotten and passed sooner or later...so why fight it? By following the will of Darkness, I don't have to suffer the pain...'_

Or answers.

'_They are perfect for each other, and if I had to pick someone for him to spend the rest of his life with, including me, I'd pick her in a heartbeat. Despite that it would leave me with nothing...'_

'_That deck surpasses my limitations. I cannot conquer it. I cannot overcome my limitations...'_

'_I had despaired, chosen to run away from my own weaknesses and problems, rather than face them head on...'_

Different voices, but essentially the same message. They had despaired, given up their dreams…

'You would do well to give in too,' a new voice, but one horribly familiar, interjected. I glared at the speaker, taking in his large, skeletal form and black wings that made him look like the Grim Reaper himself. His appearance wasn't distinguishable, but dark aura he projected most certainly was.

Despite the fact that I retained very little memory of my past life where I had come head to head with him.

'Darkness,' I hissed, malice in my voice. I couldn't hate the other, he was simply a pawn, and as much a victim as everyone else. But this being in front of me, he was the cause of the imbalance that was causing the world to be slowly drowned by darkness. My surroundings were black, excluding the small ring of light in which both I and he were in.

Shadow Night had at some point, taken his leave and vanished into the darkness. Now only the two of us remained.

Both of us, fighting to change the future…and the past.

'DUEL'

The scene shifted, and suddenly we weren't in Duel Academy anymore. The surroundings were dark on varying shades, the shadows looming over darkness seeming to pierce his very soul. I shivered; it was like relieving a childhood nightmare. Grey fog wisped at our feet, cold, but no overly so, but still carrying a tint of despair…

I glanced up and I guess something must have shown on my face, because Darkness laughed, a deep echo full of storm.

'Don't you recognise this place, _milady'_, he taunted.

I looked around again. I did recognise it, although it had a different, darker feel to it.

'The dreamtrails...' I answered, before shivering at the heat, which had risen in my voice.

'Of course Dreamwalker,' he, if it could really be called that, affirmed. He, it may have been human once, long ago, but he was now pure, undiluted darkness, the light of humanity no longer apparent in his, or it's human shell.

'Now, now,' he taunted suddenly. 'You might want to be careful Queen.'

'My name is Alexis,' I snapped back. 'And who are you to tell me to be careful?'

Darkness didn't seem too fazed by my outburst. 'Have you already forgotten where we are?'

'No…'

'Then do you remember the rules?'

The rules? I thought about that.

_FLASHBACK_

'_The Dreamtrails are paths formed by dreams and memories, inter twining and converging at a singular heart…'_

'…_Memories cannot be changed. Therefore you have no means to alter the course of events. Dreams on the other hand, can and sometimes should be altered'._

_END FLASHBACK_

'What is this?' I asked. 'A memory…or a dream?'

Darkness laughed again. 'Amateur', he taunted.

I scowled. 'Fine', I snapped. 'Don't answer. Let's just duel'.

I fired up my duel-disk, inserting my deck into its slot and Darkness followed suit, 6 wings extending from his back and acting as his duel disk.

As I drew my hand, I paused hearing something in the silence. Darkness did not seem fazed, but the words echoed in my ears before fading into the eerie silence.

'_I will challenge you…for him'._

Then another answered the challenge.

'_You will lose…and he will fall because of you…'_

Five cards appeared in front of Darkness, followed by a sixth, which stated that he had claimed the first move. He scanned his (figurative) hand quickly, before one appeared face down, partly shrouded in the grey mist. Briefly, I thought I saw green blades of grass swaying in the wind, before it had vanished.

'I play Chosen One'. My head snapped up as the card to the far most left revealed itself. Chosen One? I hadn't seen that before, though it felt familiar.

'I'm allowed to select three cards from my hand,' he or it explained, the spare temporarily vanishing while the other three rotated their positions.

'One monster and two non-monsters. From there on, the choice is yours. You select one; if it is a monster, the other two are discarded while the monster is summoned face up. If, however, you select a spell or trap, all three are sent to the graveyard.'

I stared at the rotating cards. Undoubtedly he would have selected a powerful monster. And there was a one in three chance of me selecting it. But still, it was a rather risky move; the last person who pulled a stunt like that was one who believed to have the minds of destiny on his back.

But Jaden never did believe that his destiny was written in stone.

I frowned. 'It is certainly a risky move,' I commented. 'How can you be sure I'll pick the right card?'

He chose not to answer. 'Dreams can change,' he remained. 'Memories can't, but they can be repeated.'

My eyes widened. 'So then this duel…'

'Has already happened.'

I looked around. So, it was a memory. But it was more than that. I could tell, the grass, the whisper…it was a dream as well. And even though memories could not change, dreams could.

'I pick the centre card,' I started calmly. Only mildly surprised when it turn to reveal a monster, one that I once again recognised, but at the same time, didn't.

'Darkness Neosphere,' he introduced, summoning it in attack position, the card appearing on the upper left wing. The two remaining cards also turned, revealing themselves to be Mark of Restrict and Mark of Accursed, before they vanished, being replaced by the one card which remained in his hand.

'Accursed,' he continued. 'Despair…a curse that runs deep into the nerves of humankind. Restriction…the helplessness it incites, the emotive power of shadow that stems from it. It is what I was, and in a sense, still am, fashioned from.

Humans have been cursed since the time they rose into the light. Before that, there was balance; darkness and light were insight while nothing else existed. But as the light rose, the darkness grew deeper…the hopelessness, the despair, they grew in strength as hopes and dreams were darked.'

'And so you hope to stem the force of light and create a world where neither hope nor despair exists,' I interjected.

'Indeed.'

'And you're not letting Jaden interfere because…? I mean, why go through all this trouble.'

'He is darkness,' Darkness growled. 'But he has light. So I had to take away his light before he came face to face with me. It is inevitable now.'

That was true. Every human who had supported him was now gone. Except me, but I would follow soon enough, if my suspicions were proven true. But he had his spirits and the bonds of friendship rang true…something which this summon enemy was trying to undermine.

And it was working. We all of us were trapped in a webbing of despair. I would fall; he was right, it was inevitable, but if only I could reach him before I fell…

…though I wonder if he planned that too.

'You are light,' he continued. Then, at my shocked expression, he explained. 'You think the herald of darkness would be compatible to anyone but?'

I didn't answer. His question had warranted none.

'I activate Super Guard,' he said, turning my attention back to the duel, the final card in his hand turning to reveal itself. Great, his Neosphere could no longer be destroyed.

I drew a card from my deck, before playing it, summoning Cyber Tutu, to whom I immediately ordered to launch a direct attack. She did so, striking out the entire cloaked figure with the flat of her feet, knocking a quarter of his life points off.

'I activate Prima Light,' I said, continuing my assault, that Super Guard being next on the agenda. 'I sacrifice Cyber Tutu to summon Cyber Prima in attack mode.'

Cyber Tutu vanished to be replaced by her taller evolution in all her glory. Only, on the field before her, the face down trap card was open.

'Curse of Darkness?' was all I had a chance to say before my life points dropped by a thousand.

'Each time a spell is activated, the controller takes a thousand points of damage.' Darkness explained, a bit redundantly, as I was already ware of that. _But regardless, that card was seriously going to limit my moves._ I thought, glancing at the Card of Sanctity in my hand.

I scowled, looking back at the field. _There went that strategy._

'Cyber Prima's effect destroys Super Guard,' I said. Thought it won't be much of help now without the means to destroy that Neophere. Not to mention that I had just left my life points wide open.

Then I heard that same voice again.

'…_sometimes your own shield has to weaken to break through another…'_

I played Hallowed Light Barrier face down and ended my turn, as Darkness's point rose back to 4000 due to his monsters reenergizing effect.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

I found myself wandering around again, stumbling along in the darkness without aim. Or not without an aim, I had an aim, to find my way out.

'Oh man, I cried suddenly, my voice echoing. 'Whose idea was to make this place with an exit so hard to find.'

After a moment, I added an afterthought. 'Oh yeah, mine.'

A speck of grey caught my eyes and I ran towards it as fog spilt over the black surface I walked on.

And then, the darkness vanished.


	14. Enkindle Thy Flame

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Chapters remaining after this:** 4

* * *

**14 - Chapter 13: Enkindle Thy Flame**

**(Jaden's POV)**

It was funny, how little I really knew about myself. My past, my future, even my present...how little I was truly aware of the existence of my own soul, and my power. I had always just gone with the flow, disregarded dangers that could have potentially cost me my life, and the lives of other people as well.

Watching my past, quite literally, flash before my eyes, I could truly see the amateur mistakes that had repeated themselves time and time again, fading away only when I became aware of them, only to be replaced by others.

That was the way all things worked. We made mistakes, we learnt from them.

And giving up was the biggest of them all.

I guess my perspective really began to change during my time at Duel Academy, when duelling, my lifelong passion, became less and less like a simple game each time. The shadow games, the light of destruction, the survival duels...then all that had happened in the Dark World...those experiences had helped me grow, as a person, mature from the child persona I had held onto for so long to the adult which would go out into the world and make a difference.

I remembered everything, from the time I was old enough to retain any memory of anything till now. All the memories I had lost in my childhood came rushing back.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. It did, a lot, but at that time, it really didn't matter.

Because something was forcing me to remember, to understand, to accept.

Someone, who was the light in my darkness.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

'Memories are very odd things,' Darkness mused as a card appeared in front of him, signalling his draw phase. 'With gaps, holes, twists and turns...and humans wonder how easily they can be manipulated.'

'But the truth always lies beneath,' I reminded. 'No matter how hard you try to hide it. It only appears fragmented when we deny ourselves the luxury of remembrance, or else others deny it to us.

'So you think...' He looked at the card he had drawn, before playing it. 'I equip the spell Mask of Brutality to my Darkness Neosphere.'

If anything, that monster of his just got scarier with that equip spell.

'Mask of Brutality increases my monsters attack points by 1000, lowering its defence points by the same amount.'

'5000 attack points?' Such a hit would make a really big dent in my life points. Fortunately, there was still Hallowed Life Barrier.

Though not for very much longer, as I was forced to trigger it, discarding Cyber Angel Dakini from my hand as Darkness Neosphere launched an attack against Cyber Prima.

'End turn,' Darkness stated simply, not at all surprised.

'Fine,' I returned. 'My draw, and summon Cyber Gymnast in defence mode.'

I followed up my words with my actions, the acrobatic gymnast appearing and sitting herself on her card.

'Next, I'll activate her special ability,' I continued, 'discarding a card from my hand to destroy a monster on your field.'

I discarded Card of Sanctity, and Darkness Neosphere on my opponent's field faded away into the very darkness it represented. For a time at least, the field was free of it. And so, with nothing else I could do, I ended my turn.

'Well?' Darkness asked, drawing its next card. 'What do you have to say now?'

'About?' I asked. 'You are yet to prove me wrong. Is it because you know that I am right and you are wrong?'

Then another voice, soft as the aged time, continued.

_'Is it because you are afraid, that even if I lose, he will defeat you? Because he is complete, and you are not? The forces of light and darkness are in balance in him. You, a being of pure darkness, cannot supplant that.'_

Darkness didn't answer, simply playing Pot of Greed and drawing two new cards, one appearing face down with the fog covering it, the other appearing on the field as he summoned it.

'I summon Darkness Necro Slime,' he said, 'using its ability and sacrificing it to bring back Darkness Neosphere.'

I was not surprised. The funny thing about this duel was that it lacked surprise. After all, it had already occurred, so on a certain, subconscious level, I knew his moves, and he knew mine.

And though memories could not change, dreams could, and I was hoping desperately that Jaden was listening.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

'_The forces of light and darkness are in balance in him. You, a being of pure darkness, cannot supplant that.'_

Light and darkness in me? I thought about that. Darkness, Haou's power. And light..?

Hope, mercy, and many more things besides, light symbolised. Their antonyms were darkness. Despair, justice...together, they symbolised many things. The beginning, and the end...of everything. Light and darkness.

They couldn't exist without each other, and neither were inherently evil. I guess it was the prejudices of the world in which I was brought up that defined light as good and darkness as evil. Though the years of Duel Academy have shown me the other side of the equation.

Both could be both, and they could be each other. They were interchangeable with one another; maybe there was really no true distinction between.

That would at least explain why everything was greyscale now.

'_Even if I lose, he will defeat you...'_

Faith, hope...someone was steadfast in their belief of my ability. And that voice, that lady from the mirrors, my fiancé, who had followed me across barriers due to the strength of our bond, the one who had sung her farewell...

And it was familiar, so familiar...but I just couldn't place it.

'_Let it go! The pain, the despair, the guilt, the sorrow...just let it all go...'_

I closed my eyes, letting myself simply go. Let go of the pain, the despair I carried inside, and with it, the childishness I had clung to. I let it all go, letting the soothing elements flood through me, so when I opened my eyes, they would not hold the wild innocence of a child, nor the haunted look of despair, but the calm, collectiveness of an adult.

It felt as though a large burden had been lifted from my heart, with the help and rather insistent prodding of someone I could hear and feel, but could not see. However, another force still held me in its grip, and all I could do was wait for it to let me go.

* * *

**(Alexis' POV)**

Darkness wasted little time in dispatching my last line of defence, leaving me with no cards in my hand, nor any on my field.

I drew a card, getting a spell. However, at that point, I could not worry about Curse of Darkness at this stage. I had no choice but to play it.

'I activate Fulfilment of the Contract,' I said, 'resurrecting Cyber Angel Dakini from my graveyard.'

My angel appeared in a flash of light, as my life points decreased by a thousand due to Darkness' trap, and a further eight hundred due to the cost of my own spell.

'Cyber Angel Dakini destroys a monster on your field when she is summoned,' I stated. 'So your monster is destroyed once again.'

I declared my attack, though knowing the moment I had declared it that it would fail. And it did, as the face down, Call of the Haunted, brought back the monster I had just destroyed, too late to call of the attack.

Dakini was destroyed, and my life points with it. It was like a cold daft had passed over me, and I let myself simply fall to my knees as my life points hit zero.

'Now you see?' he asked cockily.

I shook my head with an effort. 'You are yet to prove me wrong,' I reiterated.

I then raised my voice, yelling out in one final, desperate call. I couldn't fail, I still had to help Jaden.

I just hoped that I was right.

'Let it go!' I screamed. 'Let it go! The pain, the despair, the guilt, the sorrow...' I took a deep breath, before continuing in a weak voice. '...just let it all go...'

My head swam as the red light from my duel disk faded. Hand trembling, I flipped over the next card, seeing Mystical Space Typhoon. Then if I had played Card of Sanctity when I had it, rather than discarding it, I could have destroyed that curse and saved my life points. If I had stuck to my original strategy, rather than let myself be confused and swayed...

'Mask of Darkness,' Darkness stated, showing his next card to me. 'Ironic, isn't it. That is now your abode. The veil of light that clouded you is now gone.'

He was right. No hope, no light...but he was wrong. Because there was still Jaden. I just hoped that I was right.

'Jaden!' I screamed, vision fading.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

'Jaden!'

The cry echoed through my mind, and it suddenly clicked.

'Lex?'

The desperation in her voice made me panic, and my eyes flew open of their own accord, blinking rapidly to take in the white hospital sheets and walls against the inky darkness.

It only took a few seconds more to recognise the fact that I was alone.

And another few seconds to realise I was not.

'Kuri!'

'Kuriboh?'


	15. Light into Darkness, Darkness into Light

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

Hi! New chapter everyone. And don't kill me for the ending! Because then I won't be able to update anymore!

BTW, (1) Kuriboh brings Jaden up to speed. So does Honest. (2) Jaden is right. Darkness just doesn't want to admit it. (3) I skipped the duel again. Roughly follows episodes 175 and 176 if anyone's interested and (4) remember that I didn't mention everything that happened while Jaden was unconscious in his head. I only mentioned the important bits. Everything else falls into place on its own basically, kinda goes without saying.

Anyway. Enjoy. And thank you so much to everyone who had supported me thus far. Thanks to you all, I'm nearly done, only two chapters and the epilogue left now.

As for the poll, **Shrouded in Darkness** and **Don't Look into my Eyes** are tied at 18 votes each currently. Right now, I'm just hoping the tie breaks before I post the epilogue, because I haven't decided what I'm going to do if it remains a tie.

**Chapters remaining after this:** 3

* * *

**15 - Chapter 14: Light into Darkness, Darkness into Light**

**(Jaden's POV)**

'Jaden!' I heard her voice echoing across the empty grounds, but I was too far away...far too far. But that didn't matter now; I knew its game now. Once Darkness may have been human, but whatever humanity he had was lost long ago. Now, it was simply an embodiment of evil.

I remembered now, and I understood. Along with that, it seemed as so much time had passed that I had aged many years in the space of what seemed only a few days.

Things change, and as they do, people do to.

And it was long overdue that I accepted the changes I had tried to deny myself.

After all, it wasn't really that bad.

Darkness, _its'_ darkness, was evil, but the power of the Supreme King didn't have to be.

Even if I had lost my way once and used it as such, it wasn't inherently evil; I could use it for good, and had done so.

But all too easily it had been clouded in the mists of darkness in another form.

It was all a game for it, a game of revenge, or a puzzle of sorts, with a simple starting point: despair.

'Kurii...'

I smiled at Kuriboh, who looked worriedly back. 'Don't worry buddy,' I whispered. 'I understand, and I won't let everything go to waste.'

That's right. I wouldn't let all my friends, and the world, be shrouded in a world of nothingness. I knew how that felt, the emptiness, the void...but there was nothing in it. And failure...it can, and should, be used as a foothold to leap the path of success.

Not even nothing could exist on its own without something to substantiate it.

I turned my head slightly, easily seeing through the darkness as I surveyed the world outside the window.

It was dark, but not the darkness I knew. It was nothing, but it existed because of something. As all things are.

_'Jaden Yuki...'_

Darkness.

_'You think you are right and I am wrong?'_

His voice sounded amused, echoing in the emptiness of a world almost fallen.

I didn't answer, so it continued.

_'My world is a shadow, or a reflection of your own, you know?'_

'In which case it is impossible for it to exist on its own,' I replied calmly. 'Whether I win or lose this battle is irrelevant, your world will collapse because of its lack of foundation.'

Silence.

I was mildly surprised at that, but Kuriboh's insistent calls got me off the bed and my attention away from that for the time being.

'What is it Kuriboh?' I asked him.

I listened to his explanation, all the while eyeing my reflection in the window. Something just seemed...odd.

Then suddenly, I realised what.

My eyes, once chocolate brown, were now a golden-brown colour, a cross between my eye colour of birth, the eyes of the Supreme King, and Yubel's orange and green bichromatic eyes. Somehow, it had found a medium between them all.

It was good, as I had too.

Mostly.

I tore my gaze away and followed Kuriboh out the door and down the empty hallways without question. Not once had he ever steered me wrong, nor was he about to this time either.

We paused in front of a door, one leading to an old storage room. It was locked, but I could feel the presence of something within. Something light...another Duel Spirit.

'Kurii...' Kuriboh chirped, obviously happy.

'Jaden Yuki,' a voice inside responded.

The door opened soundlessly under my fingertips, and inside an angel stood, holding out a box to me, open to display a single card.

'Honest...'

* * *

It was empty. The entire school, the entire world...it was empty.

But it wouldn't remain that way for long.

'Which will you choose Jaden Yuki?' someone, an unfamiliar voice, asked.

I spun around, finding myself face to face with someone who I only partially recognized.

'Nightshroud?' I guessed, basing my assumption on the mask he adorned.

He inclined his head. 'No,' he corrected. 'I am Shadow Night.'

'Shadow Night then. Yusuke Fujiwara. What do you mean?'

He stepped forward slightly, out of the shadows clouding his face. It was rather redundant, as it affected neither of our sight; the shadows that loomed before us were a part of our nature after all, in different ways.

'He is dead,' he responded softly.

'One says otherwise,' I said. 'But that was not the question.'

'Two choices left,' he said in reply. 'It is a life or death option so to speak.'

'So your master says,' I acknowledged. 'But you?'

He was silent for a moment, contemplating his answer.

'Answer the truth,' I commanded as he opened his mouth.

It wasn't simply an empty command. There was power behind it, and he knew it.

'I will be forgotten anyway,' he sighed. 'Better there be a world devoid of pain and suffering. Family, friendship, they are bonds easily broken.'

I could hear the desolate cry of the spirit at those words, the lone angel reaching out to his fallen master.

'Master...' the soft cry echoed in my ears.

I turned back to the other. 'You would try to stop me?' I asked.

Another pause. A longer one. Then...

'No.' The other responded.

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

'No.'

Jaden raised an eyebrow at this, but otherwise remained silent so the other could continue, but he did not.

'You would let me pass?' Jaden asked, a little incredulous.

'No' was the repeated answer.

'Then,' he prompted.

Shadow Night didn't answer. 'There is no way to change the flow of time,' he said instead. 'Everything will end with nothing.'

'So it says as well...' Jaden muses. 'Nothing, even it...even you...'

His eyes widened suddenly in understanding. 'It matters that much to you?'

The other, however, shook his head. 'No. It matters that little. As I said, a life or death option.'

'For who? Me or you?'

'Both. Either way, I will get what I want.'

Jaden froze, realising the underlining meaning in those words as Shadow Night, or Yusuke Fujiwara as he was called, activated his duel disk.

He stared at his own for awhile, not noticing the lack of cards in the holder. He knew what this duel would result in, but was he willing to sacrifice one person's life for the sake of the world.

'You'll have to,' a voice echoed in the deeper recedes of his mind, laced with a restrained relief. A familiar voice. 'Death is not in your hands.'

'Yubel...' he murmured.

'He is too far gone in darkness already,' she continued. 'His soul belongs to the darkness now. You'd be doing him a favour by setting him free...'

'Isn't there another way?' he pleaded mentally, though he was accepting that there was none.

'I'm sorry Jaden.' And she truly did sound sorry. 'But your power is a form of darkness too. Light could, but that power is lost now.'

He nodded, golden-brown eyes staring steadily as he steeled his resolve. He activated his own duel-disk, which beeped in protest.

'Wha-?'

He looked down, only then realising that his deck was, in fact, missing.

'Kuriii!'

'Huh? Kuriboh?'

Winged Kuriboh was circling something on the ground not far away. Shadow Night did nothing as Jaden went over, seeing the cards scattered on the ground, next to an abandoned duel disk.

'My deck,' he murmured, picking up Flame Wingman.

_Then this is where Alexis duelled..._

Silently, he gathered his cards, using the darkness he commanded to fortify his emotions and strengthen his resolve.

'Are you ready?'

'I'm ready.'

He stood, inserting the deck into the card holder, which immediately activated his duel-disk.

'DUEL!'

* * *

'You hesitate,' Jaden said bluntly well into the duel. Elelmental Hero Neos stood steadfast on his field, his player in equal steadfastness, as they stared down Clear Vice Dragon though its attack points, due to its special ability, were double that of its opponent's, and the pawn of darkness that had played it, despite their deficient life points.

'It's too late now,' the other sighed.

Jaden stared hard at the other. 'Your parents didn't leave you, you know?' he said softly. 'Life and death are in no human's hands. They left you hope, and if you had held onto that hope, you could have saved yourself from this fate.'

The other angered at his words. 'I have no parents,' he hissed. 'All that exists for me is darkness.'

Jaden simply shook his head, damp locks of hair falling in front of his eyes before he pushed them back. 'People so important to you cannot be forgotten. Those bonds can never be broken, no matter what anyone says.'

The angel spirit appeared behind him as he spoke. The brunette turned and gave him a sad smile, before turning back.

'You are not forgotten...Yusuke,' he said softly, yet firmly in a voice that allowed for no arguments. 'Your duel spirit is still with you.'

'It doesn't matter,' the other reiterated, not looking up, though he accepted the truth of the other's words. 'It's over.'

'It is,' Jaden agreed, bowing his head. 'I just wanted you to understand. Comprehension makes things just that little bit easier.'

'You will not win Jaden Yuki,' Shadow Night said suddenly, as another voice overlayed his own.

'Darkness...' Jaden hissed, his eyes flashing golden, before returning to their new colour. 'It is time for you to separate from him.'

He revealed his final card. Honest, before sending it to the cemetery. 'By Honest's special effect,' he explained, 'I can discard it to increase the attack points of Neos by that of your monster.'

The spirit of Honest appears behind his true master. 'It ends here Darkness,' he said, declaring the final attack.

The resulting explosion covered the field, so he couldn't be sure of the end result, but the smoke cleared to reveal Yusuke Fujiwara, for the first time in years, free of the dark influence that he had given his soul to.

'Honest,' he whispered weakly. 'You remembered...'

'Of course,' the spirit whispered back. 'I could never forget you Master.'

He smiled, his blue eyes, crystalline as they should be, moving to gaze at his saviour with a soft thanks, before clouding over as all traces of life permanently vanished from his eyes, his limp body falling into the arms of his spirit, Honest only being able to catch him due to the infusion of gentle darkness suddenly bestowed upon him.

'Supreme King..?' He looked up.

'Take his body somewhere safe,' the addressed responded without looking at them. 'Darkness still needs to be dealt with.'

The spirit left without another word, leaving the young king to stare at the darkness in the sky.

Yet another person had died. But he knew he was not to blame.

_'I didn't expect you to get this far. But no matter. You will not get further.'_


	16. Duel of Darkness

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

This chapter is heavily based on episode 177 of Yu Gi Oh GX, both the duel and the dialogue, because although the journey was different, the end result is basically the same. That being said, you'd probably know what's going to happen next, though the epilogue may or may not surprise you.

Anyway, enjoy and stay tuned.

**Chapters remaining after this:** 2

* * *

**16 - Chapter 15: Duel of Darkness**

'So little time has passed,' Jaden mused aloud, looking up at the eclipse that covered the black sky. 'Yet it seems as though an entire life time has come between my sleep and my awakening.'

His golden-brown eyes gazed into the dark stillness. 'I have come this far, whether because of your own twisted game of revenge or events out of your control. As have you, but only one of us now will progress beyond this stage.'

_'Then let us decide in a true duel.'_

'Show me your true form then.'

It, Darkness, appeared before him in the empty courtyard. A low hissing sound preceded him, to be followed by a large brown tabby-cat who suddenly appeared beside Jaden.

'Wha..? Pharoah?' he questioned, confused.

'Of course,' another voice echoed, a yellow ball of light emerging from the cat's mouth.

'Professor Banner?' Indeed, the ball took the form of his ex-headmaster of his dorm.

'Be careful,' the teacher cautioned him. 'It is no human, and that makes it a formidable enemy.'

Jaden nodded in acknowledgement. 'Well?' he asked, turning back to Darkness. 'What do you hope to achieve should I be defeated?'

'Truth,' it replied. At the bewildered expressions it received, it proceeded to explain. 'It started so far away in ancient time. A card was born in darkness where nothing existed in. Then a front and back were determined, and the beginning of the world came. Eventually, stars were born, and the world was created. Human beings stood at the top of all creations. It's said to be inevitable that humans discovered Duel Monsters and cards that were the origin of the world. But for that reason, Duel Monsters become a mirror that reflects hearts and a test that measures the hearts of humankind.'

'A mirror that reflects a person's heart?' Jaden repeated, slightly confused, yet understanding.

'To say, if we compare the world you live with a card face, my world is a shadow or darkness. If light keeps residing in a heart of duellists who manipulate Duel Monsters, the repose of the front world may be an agreement, who knows?...But many hearts of duellists were dyed by darkness and flew into our world.'

'So...you're saying you appeared due to the darkness in people's hearts.' _I had my suspicions about that_, he added silently as an afterthought.

'Indeed. We have no ambition of my own. Power that included a lot of darkness woke us up. To change our world to this world, it's like a nature that water flows from a high place to a lower place...If you want to say, we are the savoir.'

'Savior?' he exploded. 'You just draw and trap them in your world of nothingness!'

'They are happy there,' it reminded him. 'There is nothing left for them here. In any case, the rapid flowing current can't be stopped. Along the current, we pass and eliminate all obstacles standing in our way. And you are the last.'

The brunette's eyes flashed gold again in anger, before he forced himself to calm. Darkness was wrong, he knew it. This was not the fate of the world. It couldn't be. There would be no world if that occurred. The very foundations of the universe would collapse.

He voiced his opinion.

'The flow of time cannot be deterred,' Darkness said in reply.

'So you say,' he answered. 'But I don't believe that the fate of the universe is concrete.'

'You are the only one,' it reminded him. 'And you, the Supreme King of darkness, merged with a duel spirit, cannot exist in my world. Thus, this duel will eliminate you.'

Jaden simply activated his duel disk in reply, and Darkness followed suit.

'DUEL!'

'I don't care what you say,' Jaden whispered, drawing his hand. 'As long as I am able, I won't give the world to your hands.'

'You fight alone,' Darkness stated, drawing his own, accompanied by a sixth. 'I summon Darkness Eye.'

The eye, held up by a few nerves, appeared on the field in attack position.

'Zero attack points?' _Something tells me there's more to it than meets the eye._

Darkness simply ignored Jaden, continuing with his turn.

'I next play the field spell Darkness.'

The spell enveloped the field, five face down cards appearing in the spell and trap card zone.

'Filled already?' Jaden asked, surprised, though once again, received no reply.

After the silence stretches to a nerve-breaking tension, Jaden takes his turn, drawing a card from his deck, before summoning Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack position, immediately declaring its attack towards Darkness Eye, only to be countered as two of Darkness' face downs revealed themselves, revealing the card between.

'Wha..?' he gasped, before his Sparkman was incinerated.

'I activated Zero,' Darkness explained, which then allows me to activate another facedown. So I activated Infinity, whose combined effects allow me to activate all cards between, in this case, Darkness 1, which destroys a card on your field per permanent trap with the name 'Darkness' activated.'

Amazement graces Jaden's face at such an effect, but he chooses to simply progress with his turn. 'I play the spell Relationship,' he said, sliding it into his spell and trap card zone. 'Since Sparkman was destroyed this turn, I can summon an Elemental Hero from my deck with the same attack points. So I summon Elemental Hero Necroshade in defence mode.'

The dark warrior appeared on the field, kneeling on its card on one knee. Jaden played a face down card, before ending his turn.

'My face downs rearrange themselves randomly due to my field spell's effect,' Darkness explained, as the cards retreated.

'That's something at least,' Jaden sighed, watching as the five face downs reassembled themselves.

'Don't lower your guard,' Professor Banner warned, as Darkness drew his next card. 'He is unlike any enemy you've faced before.'

'I understand Professor,' he said in reply.

He turned his gaze back to his opponent as the turn proceeded.

'I activate Darkness Eye's effect,' he stated, playing another card. 'Since it is in attack mode, I am allowed to summon a monster without sacrifice, therefore I summon Darkness Destroyer in attack mode.'

Jaden said nothing at the new addition, allowing Darkness to explain its effect.

'Darkness Destroyer can attack twice per battle phase,' he said. 'In addition, it possesses a penetrating effect.

'Oh no,' Banner whimpered as it hid behind Pharaoh, the cat itself hiding behind the nearest corner. 'If he uses Darkness 1 again, Jaden will be finished.'

'I doubt it,' Jaden muttered, a small bead of perspiration rolling down his chin. 'He's not the one in control in this duel, so he can't be certain the cards he chooses will be the right ones.'

'So you think,' Darkness said, amused, flipping over Zero and Infinity respectively.

Jaden sprouted an expression of shock as the three cards between were revealed, Darkness 2, Darkness 1, and Darkness 3 respectively.

'By the effect of Darkness 2, my monster's attack points can increase by 1000 points for every Darkness trap activated after it. Thus, my destroyer's attack points become 5300.'

'5300?' Jaden's eyes widened, as Professor Banner panicked behind him.

'Go. Attack.'

'Hero Barrier activate!'

Darkness Destroyer launched its attack, only to be countered by the shield rising up from the revealed trap card.

'That trap will only block a single attack. Your monster will still be taken out by the next attack.'

True to its word, Necroshade is taken out, knocking the duellist back with its gales of darkness as his life points decreased to 500.

Darkness: 4000

Jaden: 500

'You had best give up,' Darkness muttered to the struggling boy as he attempted to stand. 'You are the only one still willing to fight to the end.'

'It doesn't matter,' he grunted, forcing himself to his knees. 'Even if I am alone, I will continue to fight till you are defeated.'

'I disagree,' Yubel said, appearing behind him. 'You still have us Jaden. And it's far too soon for you to be beaten here.'

'That's true,' Jaden smiled, as the yellow particles disappeared into his body, his eyes changing to mirror those of his spirit's, before he stood to glare at Darkness again.

'I am not fighting alone,' he stated, as the cards shuffled themselves once more. 'There is another spirit inside me who helped me remember that. I draw.'

He drew a card, before calling out Elemental Hero Neos. 'Due to Necroshade's effect, I can summon him without a sacrifice.'

The eye on Darkness Eye suddenly glowed, and prompted by Yubel's presence, Jaden immediately plays another spell. 'Quick-play spell Effect Shut. It negates a monster's effect and destroys it. So Darkness Eye is destroyed, meaning you can't check your face downs with its effect anymore.'

Darkness scowled.

'Now you have to choose one at random.'

He did so, revealing it to be Darkness 1.

'Bad luck,' Jaden shrugged uncaringly as he declared his attack. 'Go. Destroy Darkness Destroyer.'

Neos does so, karate chopping the other and causing it to explode within its own darkness.

Darkness: 3800

Jaden: 500

A set card, and the field reset itself once more.

'If another spirit is supporting you,' Darkness growled, drawing a card. 'I will take it away from you.'

'You will never learn, will you?' Jaden sighed, shaking his head. 'Our bonds are far stronger than that.'

'We'll see,' it scowled, summoning another monster. 'When Darkness Outsider is summoned, I can discard a card to switch it with a monster from your deck.'

Both sets of dichromatic eyes widen, yet they are both powerless to prevent what they knew was going to happen. Dark tendrils erupted from the monster, diving into the Slifer's body with no physical ailment, latching themselves like a leech to the spirit inside.

'Yubel, be my servant,' he ordered, as she was pulled forcibly from his body, despite her struggling, and onto its field.

Jaden cried out in outrage as he scanned through her effect, before immediately declaring her attack.

'What an ironic way to be defeated,' he mused, watching Yubel struggle. 'Defeated by your own soul partner. After all, her ability will deflect your Neos' attack points to your life points.'

'You mock our bond and underestimate it at your own peril,' Jaden retaliated, opening his face down card. 'Astral Shift switches the attack to a direct attack on the player.'

He received the fist as gently as possible. 'I'll get you back Yubel,' he whispered to the spirit as she was pulled back.

'I certainly expect that,' she replied.

He nodded, before continuing to Darkness. 'Due to Astral Shift's effect, I am allowed to draw a single card.'

He did so, golden-brown eyes widening at the card he had drawn.

Darkness ignored it, simply continuing with his move. 'I special summon Darkness Slime,' he said, a black blob appearing on the field. 'Since my monsters' attack points equal zero, I can summon it out. And once out, it can take on the attack and defence points of any monster on your field.'

There was only one: Neos, so the black blob morphed into a darker version of the space hero, sitting in defence mode.'

'You don't understand the bond between us,' Jaden reiterated, drawing his next card, before revealing the one drawn with Astral Shift. 'With Super Polymerisation, I can discard a card from my hand to fuse a monster on my field with a monster on yours.'

Gales of wind erupted from the card as he discarded Winged Kuriboh to the cemetery, light engulfing Neos as well as Yubel and merging the two together.

'Amazing,' Professor Banner breathed as the new monster appeared on the field.

'Neos Wiseman,' Jaden said simply as a way of introduction, his eyes once again the dichromatic scheme of Yubel's. 'When it destroys a monster, it will deal damage equivalent to the attack strength of the destroyed monster while I regain life points equal to the defence.'

Darkness chooses not to comment, leaving Jaden to declare the attack against the remaining monster.

Darkness: 1800

Jaden: 3000

'Yay,' Professor Banner cheered. 'You reversed the game!'

Jaden raises his eyes to glare at Darkness once more. 'I will prove to you the strength of the relationships and bonds that you mock,' he stated.

Darkness' eyes glow blue as he growled at the offending boy.

Jaden's eyes glowed in response. 'I will show you that I am able to save the people of this world!'


	17. Till Next Time

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Notes**

All right. Only one chapter (the Epilogue) after this one. Which means that this story is drawing to a close.

The poll is also drawing to a close. I'll close it off when I post the epilogue, but part of the fun is that I'm not telling when I'm posting it up. That'll be whenever I finish writing it. Could be tomorrow, could be awhile.

Shrouded in Darkness is leading the poll at 19 votes, so if nothing changes, that'll be the story I post up next. There's still some time though, so I'll post up the result with the epilogue. And you're allowed to vote in your reviews as well (I won't know if you vote twice in that aspect as well). So please vote.

And thank you to everyone whose stuck through this story.

**Chapters remaining after this:** 1

Please enjoy, and stay tuned for the epilogue.

* * *

**17 - Chapter 16: Till Next Time**

'No matter how hard you struggle, you cannot win against the true darkness,' the embodiment uttered. 'You of all people should know what I truly am.'

Here, he turned to his opponent, meeting the cold gaze steadily. 'You know what future has in store.'

'I know,' Jaden replied. 'But I refuse to recognise it, nor will I accept it. Such a future will never come to pass so long as faith still exists.'

Professor Banner watched this exchange in confusion, as did Pharaoh. It seemed that neither understood what the two duellists were talking about.

'It is the truth,' Darkness continued. 'Despite how you try to deny it. The future of all humans, and this world. You know it. You've seen it. An empty world, destroyed by the dispute and disasters of humans...completely annihilated of all life.'

He turned his dark gaze to meet the other's own unique ones. 'It is unavoidable,' he said, sounding...sad? 'Humans have tired in seeking limitless and boundless futures for themselves. In the depths of their hearts, they have become scared, scared of a world, while holding possibilities, holds far more dangers and chances for failure. So they give up, believing neither in their power nor their desire to gain such possibilities, choosing instead to belief the soothing words of despair...and darkness...'

_The others: Chazz...Atticus...Blair...Zane...Syrus...Alexis..._

'That is what gives me power.'

Jaden's eyes narrowed oddly, as if part of him was despising the other for what it, while another part was working overtime in plotting some devilishly brilliant scheme. Or not so devilishly...it did, after all, depend on the perspective.

'Let us continue this duel,' he said instead. 'My turn.'

He drew his card, before surveying the field. On his side, Neos Wiseman still proudly stood, while opposing it was Darkness Seed, with the field spell and the five-card combination still apparent.

'Neos Wiseman, attack!' He declared the attack against the other monster, it easily being defeated by the greater attack points, as Darkness' life points dropped and the brunette's rose as a result.

Darkness: 1000

Jaden: 5000

His opponent merely laughed. 'A pointless move. My seed will return to me during your second standby phase.'

The smoke caused by the attack cleared, revealing the truth of its words.

The Slifer simply frowned. 'I place one card face down. Turn end.'

His frown suddenly deepened. 'What are you laughing at?' he asked, looking at the chortling embodiment of Darkness.

'Look and revere my world,' he said, spreading out his arms. 'My power comes from your friends. It is mostly they who changed me from a simple corpse wracked with death to the persona you see before you.'

He laughed again, seeing the brunette silent. 'A king's power only comes from the belief his followers have in him,' it scorned. 'There is no-one left to follow you know, Supreme King. Thus you are powerless.'

'Then why are you still fighting me?' The boy looked up, his eyes flashing gold before reverting back to their usual colour. 'You could have held my soul in your grip, forever, while your ideal world was established. And yet you did not.'

'That was not my intention.'

'I know, and even if it had been, it would not have been possible.'

The other frowned, white gleaming beneath the hood. 'Why?'

_'__The forces of light and darkness are in balance in him. You, a being of pure darkness, cannot supplant that.'_

The voice echoed over the barriers of time, but all those who remained on the darkness coated earth heard.

The Supreme King turned to his opponent. 'Both light and darkness balanced in me,' he repeated. 'It is not so easy to tip a balance as it is to fix it.'

'And yet you so easily fell to me.' It sounded genuinely curious.

'I fell myself,' he responded softly. 'You did not make me. You did not make anyone. You cannot. Anything I did, anything _we_ did, it was done from our own free will. The most you did was nudge things along.'

He looked up slightly, eyeing the darkness in the sky before reverting his gaze. 'You said so yourself, it is the darkness in human hearts that have given you power. Logic dictates then, that light will sap you of it.'

The blue eyes narrowed slightly, but otherwise Darkness made no reaction, starting his turn and renewing his life points with his monster's effect.

Darkness: 4000

Jaden: 5000

'Next, I'll sacrifice Darkness Seed to summon Darkness Bramble. Who also inherits the effect of its processor.'

It then reveals two face downs. Zero, and Infinity, before revealing those between.

'Darkness 3 deals 1000 points of damage for each permanent trap with 'darkness' in its name,' it commented. 'That's 3000 life points in total.'

Darkness: 4000

Jaden: 2000

'The turn is yours,' it said.

Jaden took it, drawing his card, only to stop short at Zero and Infinity revealed again. 'Darkness 3 again,' Darkness told him. 'With Darkness 1 following. That's 2000 points of damage.'

'Horrible timing,' the ex-head of the Slifer dorm exclaimed. 'He only had 2000 points left.'

'Farewell Jaden Yuki,' Darkness whispered softly. 'The Supreme King...the chosen saviour of the worlds...'

_Saviour? He knew all along?_

'Huh? You're alive?'

Jaden looked up, the shroud of Cocoon Veil disappearing into the air. 'This trap reduced my damage to zero by sacrificing a cocoon on my field,' he explained, sending it and Quick-summon to the graveyard. It also allows me to summon its evolved form. Neo-spacian Dark Panther.'

'Impressive,' his opponent acknowledged in a monotone.

Jaden didn't comment, even as his brain worked on calculating the new information, instead declaring the attack of Neos Wiseman towards the opponent's monster.

'I expected that,' it responded, revealing a card in his hand. 'When you declare an attack, I can discard Darkness Raincrow from my hand, as well as Darkness Bramble on my field, to summon Darkness Neosphere.'

'Neosphere?'

_Alexis..._

'I'm sure the two of you have been well acquainted.'

Jaden simply gave his opponent a steady glare, even as his attack is rendered useless. 'Your Neosphere allows you to rearrange your trap cards in any order you please,' he stated. 'But since my panther can copy that ability, I can as well.'

Darkness does not react, but the two observers are certainly shocked as he flips the field spell face down.

'Beware of opening it again,' he warns. 'Playing it will destroy the cards you have set.'

'And so his combo is sealed,' Professor Banner cheered happily from the sidelines.

'There is still Darkness Neosphere,' Darkness reminded, before declaring its attack to incinerate Neos Wiseman.

Darkness: 4000

Jaden: 1000

'You will truly have to fight alone now,' two voices told him. Darkness, and Yubel.

He turned, seeing his soul partner standing behind him. 'Just believe in your own power...' she murmured to him, before disappearing from play.

Sadness flutters across his face for a moment, before he steadfastly continues his turn.

'By removing Yubel from play,' he began, 'I can summon Neos back to my field.'

He did so, the Elemental Hero appearing in all its glory.

Darkness eyed the new addition. 'You had best give up,' it stated eventually. 'You cannot win.'

_Prove it Jaden Yuki...show me you can..._

'You lack the understanding,' it continued. 'You may have the strength, but the others lack.'

'It is you who does not understand,' Jaden shot back. 'I didn't have any strength. In the Dark World, I forsook my friends. My heart drowned in darkness as my friends lost hope and trust in me. But the bonds that we have established are not such that they break so easily. It becomes something irreplaceable...'

He picks up the card from his duel disk and shows it. 'Once, it was a simple, black piece of paper, where a ten year old drew in an image with crayons from his imagination. So many years later, it is more than a simple card, because it has travelled far, gone through much, and it is a symbol of the memories and experiences we shared. The bonds we have established with so many other people, bonds which can never be broken.'

He raised his voice, shouting to the darkness surrounding. 'Open your eyes,' he shouted. 'See it! Your memories, your hopes, your ambitions...your light! So far and widespread, they can never be contained by such as vessel as this. See, and accept the doubt and insecurities you feel, then face it, with the friends you have made on your journeys by your side.'

His voice echoed. 'Feel your bonds. Believe in them, and remember. Remember when the tougher times come, that they will fight by your side. Your cards, your family, your friends...if we believe, we'll never be alone.'

He turned back to his opponent, who was yet to move, as light rained down from the darkened sky. 'Looks like no-body liked your world,' he said with a ghost of his old grin, as people appeared all around him. 'But this never would have occurred without the faith we have in each other. Faith that even you were not able to drown out with your darkness.'

Darkness said nothing as Jaden drew his final card. 'Polymerisation...' he looked up. 'Thank you...for all the memories and bonds we share...'

'You tried to destroy irreplaceable bonds,' he sated, 'and that is something that cannot be forgiven. And yet...I feel as though there is something more to you. As though you had planned this all along...'

'If I had, I wouldn't be likely to tell you know,' Darkness shrugged.

Jaden frowned, steadily examining him as though trying to read his intentions.

'Well, are you going to continue?'

The brunette discarded his card, revealing the one face down. 'I activate Future Vision,' he declared, carefully watching his opponent. 'Discarding Polymerisation from my hand as well as fusion material monsters from my deck to the grave, to summon a fusion monster.'

The slot labelled as his graveyard began to glow. 'I declare the ultimate contact fusion. Arise, God Neos!'

The rays of light shone on the field, eradicating whatever wisps of darkness remained.

'It ends now,' Jaden declared, activating its special ability. 'It gains 500 attack points per neo-spacian I remove from play, and by removing all six, its gains 3000 attack points. Moreover, it gains the abilities of those monsters removed, which means it gains an additional 400 points per spell or trap on your field from its inherited ability from Flare Scarab, which totals its attack points to 8400.'

He declared the final attack, amidst the awe his new monster had brought amongst the student body and administration board. The golden wings for a moment shone in the sky, catching the first rays of the rising sun.

_ 'A fitting end to a duel of revelations...'_

_Revelations? So it was true._

The attack hit, as the ensuring explosion blew the hood of Darkness' face. For an instant, the rotting corpse was revealed to the Supreme King, who cringed, but stood fast as his opponent uttered its final words from that decaying mouth, even as all others were blind to it.

'Although I am defeated, my true identity is darkness, so it is inevitable that I shall return.'

'That is true,' he replied sagely. 'But so long as we hope and aspire without drowning in our doubts and insecurities, your turn will not come again.'

_After all, darkness itself is neutrality,_ Jaden thought, as he watched the sun rise on the horizon as the darkness faded. _It is other factors that decide its goodness or evil..._

_...and despite the pain its left behind_, he thought, looking at the weary faces of his colleagues, before walking over to those most important to him. _This event has left a lasting impression on us...something we'll all remember for a long time...

* * *

_

**Author's Notes**

If anyone's confused as to Darkness' intentions, here's an explanation.

Darkness itself is simply a force, like light. This Darkness is an embodiment of the darkness that arises from doubt, despair and the likes, inhabiting the body of someone long dead, hence his appearance. His 'ambition' stems from the source of his power, and to some extent develops by his own progress and setbacks as an embodiment. Thus, when his plan is initially foiled because of Jaden aka. The Supreme King, he neutralises the potential threat to carry out his plans before facing him, considering the two had never faced each other head to head, unlike Darkness and Alexis, who had. But what Jaden didn't realise till towards the end was that Darkness never intended to disrupt the balance as they know it, but rather, in his own way, righten it. The darkness did, after all, originate from the duellists' hearts, including the doubts Jaden had kept from his dark world experience. Separating himself as he did simply dug up those feelings, and so to speak, kick-started the whole process. Darkness itself simply seeks a balance with light, as neither can exist without the other. He appeared as the bad guy to leave a lasting impression, but as it inhabits a human, and one that died during the possession at that, he still possesses some human thoughts and emotions, and revenge is one of the prominent ones. That's what makes his motives so confusing, the human factor. Note that he calls Jaden the saviour, so he knew all along that Jaden would defeat him. However, a small defeat would not have helped anyone, so this way, it, along with Jaden (and Alexis and the others too I suppose) were able to leave a more lasting lesson in people's minds.

Remember that Darkness was the one with all the pieces in this game. And he's a very good actor. He just chose not to in the end so Jaden could figure it out.

I guess I twisted the villain from season 4 a bit.

BTW, Fujiwara is dead, as in truly dead, so he's not coming back. The others are fine (physically anyway).

And when everyone was in Darkness' world, they could hear everything, though whether they could or could not associate any identity to the words is anyone's guess. That bit's irrelevant anyway.


	18. Epilogue

_**If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff. **_

_**And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

* * *

**_

**Author's Note**

And that's the end of this fic. Thank you to everybody who saw it through, and to anyone who reads this after its completion. It's thanks to you all that this fic saw its end.

And to anyone who's curious. No sequal.

As for the poll,**Shrouded by Darkness** wins with 19 votes. So I'll get started on that as soon as possible. I might finish off a couple of Digimon fics first, or not. I'll see how it goes.

Anyway, once again, thank you everyone. And enjoy.

**Chapters remaining after this:** 0

* * *

**18 - Epilogue**

**(Jaden's POV)**

'Jaden?'

I turned slightly, keeping a firm grip on my backpack as Alexis stopped at the end of the dirt track that led to the Slifer Dorms.

'Yeah?'

'You're leaving.'

I nodded wordlessly. She took a few steps closer.

'I knew you were,' she muttered. 'You can't stay stagnant. You always have to move, to experience...'

'It's more than that.'

She looked up, her hazel eyes shining slightly, but didn't interrupt as I continued. 'This...all of this, it showed me how little I really knew about myself...and other things as well. Darkness was right, I didn't understand.'

Everybody else had talked about what they had whispered. Apologies, renewed friendships...the likes. Except Alexis and I, and we had a lot to talk about.

Or not so much. Because I think we both understood. After all, we saw each other, heard each other, at that one point, felt each other...

'You understand now,' she said quietly.

'True,' I answered. 'But there's so much more that I don't.'

I dropped the bag near my feet and closed most of the distance between us, so we were less than an arm's length apart.

'So what will you do?' she asked softly.

'Explore.'

Silence.

I took a deep breath. I had been putting this off, but now...'Alexis, about us, I won't pretend to know anything about romance or anything...'

'Yeah,' she laughed. 'That's my brother's forte.'

'Anyway,' I was flustered now, but she waited patiently for me to finish. 'I think I'm in love with you Lex, but I can't stay.'

'I know,' she responded, as if she had expected it. I was right, she had understood. 'This is something you need to do.'

I nodded again. 'I'll be back one day.'

'I know. I'll wait for you.'

I opened my mouth, but guessing what I was going to say, she cut me off. 'I want to,' she persisted, her forefinger on my lips. 'And nothing you say now is going to change that. We are engaged after all.'

'I know.' This time it was I who said that.

'And don't you dare feel responsible for anything!'

I laughed a little at that. I had to. 'Don't worry,' I said. 'I learnt my lesson.'

'I should think you have. After all that...'

'Yeah...'

We were quiet again, just staring at one another.

'Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now.'

'Yeah, I guess...'

Silence.

'Make your dream come true.'

She nodded. 'I got offered a scholarship for a University in America,' she explained. 'I thought of taking a teaching degree there.'

'That's great.'

Quiet again.

'Well, goodbye then...'

She turned, then turned back as I caught her hand. For a moment, she only looked at our intertwined hands as I looked into her eyes till she looked up.

I closed the distance between us then, giving her a quick peck on the lips before pulling away. 'Goodbye,' I replied softly, letting go, before picking up my bag again and setting off.

Almost out of sight, I turned again, seeing her still standing there. So I gave my signature pose, before turning back to the start of a new journey.

* * *

**(Alexis POV)**

I blushed slightly as Jaden pulled away, watching his back as he left. Almost out of sight, he turned back, before giving his trademark pose. And then he was gone.

But he'd be back.

'About time you two kissed,' a very familiar voice commented.

'Atticus...' I sighed, exasperated. 'Hey, wait a sec. You were listening?'

'We all were.'

I spun around, staring at the whole gang.

'We just thought you two deserved the time,' Syrus said, shrugging a bit apologetically . 'We left him a note.'

'How'd you give it?'

They didn't reply. However, in the distance, shielded by the trees, I could hear Jaden's own exasperated sigh. 'Pharaoh...'

The others laughed.

'Knowing him, he'll pop up again when we least expect it,' someone said, I can't really remember who. But regardless, they were right.

After all, tomorrow was yet to come.


End file.
